Stuck With You
by Catastrophic Tomato
Summary: It seems no matter what he does, Lovino is always stuck with Gilbert! Whether it's his teacher's fault or fate is out to get him. How will he deal with this bullying jerk? Rated M for cursing. Prumano
1. This Annoyance of Mine

**A/N: This is a human!AU high school story. I'm not sure how many chapters it will have, but I'm working on it. I already have a few ideas for the next chapter, too. Also, this was inspired by a rp I was in last night and another fanfic titled "Crashing" by StarBabii. Her story is really great, it's also Prumano so you may like it. Anywho, please enjoy this story!**

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><p>High school. It is the best years of your teenage life. It is a time for growing up, becoming responsible, making lots of friendships that may last a life time. It is a time for making mistakes and learning from them. Knowledge is unlimited, take what you can from the things you will learn. Don't waste time, enjoy every minute of your youth and suck in all the energy!<p>

If Lovino ever heard someone tell that to him, he would punch their lights out. Better yet, he'd send them to a torture chamber and initiate the wrong-doings himself. He hated high school, and he hated everyone in it. Maybe it was just _school_ he hated, but high school seemed to have been the worst so far. His teachers seemed to do the opposite of what he wanted, just to piss him off. That had to have been the reason, they were all out to get him.

_That's why I'm stuck with this fucker._

Lovino cursed to himself, thinking of his horrible luck. He was sitting at his desk, trying to ignore the fact that a certain someone was trying to get a reaction out of him. And yes, that certain someone just so happened to be the annoying German albino, Gilbert. The jerk was repeatedly poking Lovino in his back with a pencil, trying to get his attention. But as Lovino saw it, he was only trying to piss him off. And it was working.

"Heeeeeey. Loviiii. Stop daydreaming about my awesomeness and answer me," Gilbert teased, as he continued to poke the irritated Italian who was trying so hard not to turn around and strangle him to death.

Lovino glared at the teacher who was reading a newpaper, instead of doing their job and making Gilbert shut up. He couldn't stand sitting in front of the bastard, he'd even gone so far as to request a seat change. The ignorant teacher only told him that no one will change seats, and that they will learn to get along better if they have to see each other's face all day. And so everyday he had to deal with being annoyed to the point where he would have to go to the bathroom once in awhile just to scream his lungs out.

_I'll end him. I'll end him once and for all._

All he had to do was find a way to contact the Italian Mafia and put a hit on Gilbert. No one will ever know, they'll say it was an accident. Yeah, that's it. A big accident, with lots of gore and misfortune. Who would attend the funeral? Practically no one, considering the albino irritated just about everyone at school. Even so, Lovino felt as if he was the main target. Now he was going to get even, Gilbert was going to be the target this time. He'd make sure of it. All he needed was some connections to make it all happen.

All of a sudden, he felt a prick against the back of his head. It wasn't all that painful, but it stung. Turning around, he glared at the smirking German that caused this nuisance.

"What.. the fuck.. do you want?" Lovino sputtered out as he turned around in his seat, trying his best not to yell at the top of his lungs. He knew that if he yelled out like he did last time, he'd get detention again. He sure as hell didn't want to spend thirty minutes in a room filled with humiliation.

"Finally you pay attention and stop fantasizing. Tell me, what's the answer to this question?" Gilbert asked, pointing to his paper.

Lovino sighed and looked down, finding that Gilbert had not answered a single question even though they'd been working on it for at least fifteen minutes now.

"..The answer is obvious. Did you even do the homework?" he asked, looking back up at the confused idiot.

"Nope. Just tell me. It's not a test anyway, and you're almost done with yours."

"Well it's B. Now leave me the hell alone," Lovino turned back around, but was soon getting poked in his back again as Gilbert called out his name.

"Let me copy yours, smart guy," Gilbert said, moving the pencil up and down Lovino's back, causing the poor kid to fidget a little in his seat from the tickling sensation.

"No," Lovino responded, moving his chair up a bit so that he wasn't being prodded.

"C'mon, don't be such a bitch," he continued to tease, even going so far as to lean forward so he could poke Lovino again.

"No, now fuck off."

"Aw, it must be that time of the month again?" Gilbert chuckled.

As much as Lovino tried to keep his composure, he couldn't. There were many times that Gilbert had pushed his buttons so much, he'd wanted to bring a gun to school. Of course, it's not like he owned one anyway. This was one of those times, considering that earlier that day, Gilbert purposely tripped him on the stairs. He still had a small throbbing pain in his knee.

_That's it!_

Lovino stood up and turned around, ready to put the bastard on full blast. He didn't care if he would get suspended for fighting, cursing, and whatnot. As long as he could get these millions of thoughts out of his mind, he'd pay any price. Unfortunately, just as he was about to say something, the teacher spoke up.

"Hearing all this chit-chattering must mean you're all done. Pass the papers forward, and Lovino Vargas, please sit back in your seat."

_Now you decide to say something, bastard.._

Sighing, Lovino sat back down and hurriedly filled in the rest of the answers before passing his paper forward. He snatched Gilbert's paper, as the jerk had set it on top of his head as if it was some sort of hat. At least it was lunch time now, he'd be able to sit in peace as he devoured his delicious homemade Italian sandwich that his younger brother, Feliciano, made for him that morning. He loved his brother's cooking, and he gladly took the offer whenever his brother asked to make lunch for him. The only thing he enjoyed about school was this time of the day. His teacher even let those who didn't want to go to the cafeteria, eat in the classroom. Surely, nothing would interrupt this wonderful moment. Right?

Wrong.

"Hey princess. What're ya eating?" Gilbert asked, as he grabbed a chair and pulled it up to Lovino's desk before sitting in it, backwards.

"..Do you seriously have to do this? All the damn time?" Lovino shook his head, trying his best to enjoy his delicious sandwich and ignore the monstrosity that stared at him.

"Yup. It's my thing. That's a pretty big sandwich, you seriously gonna eat all that? You'll get fat," Gilbert smirked.

"S-Shut the hell up! No I won't. I normally eat this portion.." Lovino blushed as he looked down at his stomach. He was a fairly thin kid of average height, but not nearly as tall or wide as other students his age. Still, there was no way he was getting fat, the bastard had to have been teasing him again.

"Wow, you normally eat that much? No wonder your head is so big!" Gilbert laughed as he patted Lovino on the head, just slightly above his sensitive curl.

"My head is not big, damn it! And don't touch me," Lovino hissed and smacked Gilbert's hand away before adding, "Why don't you go mess with your idiot boyfriends? I don't have time for you."

"Bros. Not boyfriends. And Francis isn't here today, Antonio is helping out in the kitchen," Gilbert sighed of boredom, rocking back and forth in the seat.

"Or maybe they just don't want to hang around you anymore. I wouldn't blame them, you're one annoying bastard," Lovino snorted, it felt good to throw out random insults even when he had no idea what was true or what wasn't. He didn't care though, as long as he could damage the useless pride that Gilbert held onto. Even if it was just a little.

"Haha, that's funny. Even so, I'm way too awesome for any _not _to want to hang with me. Oh, and at least I _have_ friends." Gilbert smirked again, a smirk that Lovino hated with so much passion. Especially since what he was saying was true. While Gilbert had friends, enemies, rivals, and knew just about everyone in the entire school, Lovino had nothing.

Other than the 'Bad Touch Trio', or so they called themselves, no one else really talked to Lovino. Once in a while he tried to flirt with girls, but this proved to be useless. He wasn't any good at it, and they only ended up ignoring him. Other people wouldn't bother with him, mainly because of his mood swings and his constant reference to people as 'bastards' and 'jerks'. His days mainly consisted of following his younger brother around, making sure the 'potato bastard', Ludwig, didn't put the 'moves' on him. When he wasn't able to do that, he'd sit in his room and read romance novels that he'd never tell anyone about.

"I do have friends, bastard!" he yelled, his face flushed with a bright red coloring.

"Oh? Like who?" Gilbert asked, as he raised his eyebrows in interest.

"Your mom."

"Oh wow. You actually know how to make a joke!" Gilbert laughed, patting Lovino on the back, "But I'd only be offended if I actually knew my mom."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. By the way, you've got a bit of mustard on the corner of your mouth," Gilbert said, he then proceeded to pick up Lovino's carton of chocolate milk and drink it.

"That's mine!" Lovino shouted as he wiped off his mouth and watched in horror as Gilbert nonchalantly drank his milk.

"Well it _was_ yours. Want the rest?" smirking again, Gilbert held out the practically empty carton.

"There's nothing in it now, damn it! And it's tainted with your stupid German germs!" Lovino smacked the carton of milk on the ground, causing the small bit of milk to leak out onto the tile. Which was bad timing, too, because just then the teacher walked back into the room and frowned at the small mess on the floor.

"Clean this up, right now. And tomorrow, you'll be eating in the cafeteria," the teacher said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, Lovi. You need to learn some table manners," Gilbert said, smiling as he watched Lovino get on his hands and knees like a maid to wipe up the milk.

"It wasn't even my fault.." Lovino mumbled, seriously wishing now that Gilbert would just disintegrate.

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><p>At P.E, Lovino tried his best to avoid the two jerks, but his plan failed once they immediately took notice of this and began to mess with him. He hated how the stupid coaches suddenly disappeared whenever it was free time. It made him wish there was no free time, and that they'd do the boring and repetitive activities the entire period.<p>

"Cut it out, fuckers!" Lovino growled, quite annoyed from the fact that they kept throwing those rubber handballs at him. It didn't hurt or anything, but who wants to get balls thrown at them for no apparent reason? Definitely not him.

"Then play with us. It'll be fun!" Antonio suggested, bouncing one of the balls towards Lovino.

"NO! You guys piss me off, I'm not playing anything with you. Ever."

"He's on his period today, Toni. So don't mind him," Gilbert said, as he continued to throw the ball at the irritated Italian.

This time, Lovino caught the ball and threw it way across the concrete. It sort of hit a girl in the head, but she didn't know where it came from so it was okay.

"Wow, nice going, Hulk." Gilbert said, walking over to grab another ball.

"Nice throw, Lovi! You do need to work on your aim, though.." Antonio said, giving him a thumbs up.

"I wasn't aiming!"

"This time, don't throw it across the whole damn area. Try to hit me with it, if ya can, princess!" Gilbert teased, throwing the ball to Lovino.

"Is this some sort of trick?" Lovino asked, frowning.

"Nope. Just try to hit me, I bet you can't," he continued to taunt.

Well then, if he was asking for it, then Lovino was definitely going to give it to him. He glanced up and down the albino's body, wondering where he should aim at. Maybe that smug face of his? Or perhaps in those vital regions that he claimed to be 'five meters' or some crap like that. Yeah, that's the target. He'll be crying on his knees, cupping the area in which he'd just been served.

_That's a sight I'd like to see._

Using all the force he could sum up, Lovino gave the ball a nice throw, full of strength. He thought he'd actually hit his target, but unfortunately Gilbert caught it at the last second.

"Woah, where ya aiming at, perv?" Gilbert said, raising one eyebrow, he began to laugh.

"Well! You didn't say _where_ to hit you!" Lovino puffed his cheeks, turning away. Suddenly, he felt the ball hit him in the head, "What the fuck was that, bastard!"

"I also didn't say I wouldn't throw it back."

They spent the rest of free time throwing the ball back and forth at each other, Antonio eventually joined in and they surprisingly had a lot of fun. That is, until Lovino got hit straight in the face with a powerful throw and almost got his nose broken. He decided to stick to his word and never play with them again, they were far too rough. After getting a small bag of ice to put on his swollen nose, he quickly changed back into his school clothes in the bathroom. He never changed in the locker rooms anymore because of previously being groped by both Francis and Antonio. Even Gilbert had once commented on his partially naked body, and he never wanted that to happen again. Even if the bastard _was _complimenting him, it was sick.

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><p>The last class of the school day was Lovino's favorite. The subject was history, and he was quite good at it. He found learning about the past conflicts, discoveries, cultures, and whatnot to be very interesting. Especially when they talked about Italy, he paid extra attention to that. He was intrigued to learn about his heritage and homeland. The only thing that wasn't in his favor was the fact that his teacher was a bit of a bastard, and Gilbert sat next to him in this class. It was bad enough that they had ALL classes together, but he also had to deal with him for two of them. He couldn't decide what was worse: sitting next to the annoying prick or sitting in front of him. Either way, he was being touched and irritated. Only in this one, Gilbert usually fell asleep.<p>

_Stupid bastard.. He doesn't know what he's missing out on._

Lovino shook his head as he glanced at the sleeping delinquent next to him. He didn't seem all that bad when he was asleep. But that was only because he wasn't talking. Whenever Gilbert opened his mouth, the devil came out of it. He couldn't understand how anyone would want to be friends with a jerk like him. Lovino wasn't an angel himself, but he saw himself to be way more tolerable than the albino bastard. Maybe, just maybe there was a side to him that no one else knew but his friends?

_Hell no._

He instantly shook off that idea, there's no way any type of 'good' would be in that body. Lovino came to the conclusion that Gilbert was 100% evil in every type of way, and that he lived to see others suffer from his existence. And by others, he meant himself.

Before the end of the period, the teacher made an announcement that would leave Lovino horrified for the rest of his high school days.

"Alright class, before you leave today, I wanted to introduce you all to an exciting new project," the teacher began, "You'll be able to pick any country, just one, though. Then you'll choose a historical event from any time that happened in that country. It only needs to be a few pages long, since the deadline is in one week. This will keep it fun!"

_So far so good.._

Lovino didn't find this a challenge at all. He didn't care much for projects and reports, but this was history class! And you could choose what you wanted to do it on! He'd obviously choose Italy, he just needed to decide what historical event to choose. There were so many he was interested in, this was probably the only hard part. Oh well, he'd get Feliciano to help him decide with that. Maybe his Grandfather would want to do the project with him! Then they'd spend time together, like Lovino had always wanted.

"And," the teacher continued as he handed out the layouts of the project, "The person sitting next to you is your partner."

_What?_

Had Lovino heard right? Surely he didn't. He didn't hear right at all. There's no way the teacher would force him to work with a lazy bastard like Gilbert, who was still sleeping by the way. Lovino shrugged and was about to raise his hand and ask the teacher to repeat himself, but another student had already thought of that same idea. And so the teacher gave the same, horrifying reply.

"It has to be the person next to you. You can choose what country to study, but you can't choose partners."

Lovino's eyes widened as he hesitantly turned his head towards Gilbert. The clueless German was starting to wake up from all of the commotion. As he opened his eyes, he looked up at Lovino who was now staring at him in disgust.

Gilbert smiled and said, "If you're trying to check me out, you could at least be more discreet."

Lovino immediately got up from his seat and swiftly walked over to the teacher's desk to plead for mercy.

"But sir! I can't work with.." turning around, Lovino pointed to Gilbert, who was now taking out a piece of gum to chew despite it being against the rules to have any at school, "THAT!"

"I noticed. This would be a great chance for you guys to work together, then. You'll learn something new about each other and eventually have to get along." the teacher smiled, mischievously.

"Nononono. You **don't** understand. Putting us together is like.. putting together fire and ice! Oil and water! Sharks and deer!" Lovino shouted hysterically, there was no way this would work. But the damn teacher didn't seem to give a shit.

"No one's changing partners. Go back to your seat and wait for the bell to ring to go home."

If only Lovino was a true member of the Italian Mafia. His 'bitch ass' teacher wouldn't have a head right now. No, it would be plastered against the white board behind him. Brains and blood everywhere. He'd have to run from the cops for awhile but it would all be worth it. No more school if you're a wanted criminal. But how would he escape out of the country? That was it, there _was _no escaping.

Sending a very evil glare to his teacher who wasn't even paying attention anymore, Lovino slowly walked back to his unwanted desk, defeated. He plopped back into his chair and wore a murderous expression on his face as he crossed his arms and sulked.

"Hey, hey! Looks like it's your very awesome lucky day, princess of dread," Gilbert said, smirking as he turned towards Lovino, who didn't even so much as move. "We're partners!"

Lovino felt like crying, as Gilbert laughed obnoxiously and patted him on the back, then continued to talk about how much 'awesome' fun they were going to have together from now on.

_Fuck my life.._

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><p><strong>AN: As you can see, I reallyyy have a thing for human!AU stories. So, all of my stories will probably be that.. I don't know yet. Well, hope you enjoyed this, and the next chapter will be up next year. Just kiddin', I'll get it up as soon as I finish it, whenever that will be...**


	2. Everybody Hates Projects

**A/N: Mwuahaha, chapter 2! I started typing this right after I published the first chapter.. but I have class in a few hours so I didn't have time to check for my fail mistakes. :( I'll fix anything that needs to be fixed after I come back from class later today! Anyways, enjoy!**

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><p>Looking at all of his options, he found that there weren't that many. Lovino could either fail his favorite class and get questioned as to why he didn't do his usual best, or work with the bastard, Gilbert, and probably still fail because the idiot doesn't know shit about history. Or rather, he didn't know shit about <em>anything<em>. While the second option has about a 20% chance of success, the first option has 0%. He swallowed his Italian pride and everything he lived for, and decided he was going to do this. And if he was going to do this, it has to be done _his _way.

It was after school now, and he still sat in his empty classroom, brainstorming. Finally, he got up and walked out, his strides full of confidence.

_Where is that idiot?_

Waling through the hallway, he looked from left to right at all of the students still lingering about. Even though school was out, people still had to do club activities. Although, most of these lingering students didn't even belong to a club. Why hang around the school, even after you can leave, if you hate it so much? Lovino shook his head at this thought. He figured everyone at his school was a dumb ass. Finally, he came across the biggest dumb ass of them all.

"Hey, bastard!" Lovino called out, but Gilbert continued to laugh and talk to a few random students. Walking up closer, Lovino impatiently tapped him on the shoulder, "I'm talking to you, damn it."

Gilbert turned around and smiled, "What? Oh, hey princess. And the last time I checked, my name wasn't 'bastard', it was Awesome Gilbert."

"Well, the last time I checked, my name wasn't _princess_. And I need to talk to you."

Gilbert waved goodbye to the other students and sighed impatiently, "Well, what do you want?"

"We have a project to do," Lovino said, pointing to the layout they were given.

"Oh, I know right? That's some lame shit. I threw the paper away, too," Gilbert laughed as he began to walk away.

"Hold on, damn it!" Lovino grabbed his arm and whirled him back around, "We are **not** failing this damn project. We're doing this my way, and if you don't like it, I don't give a fuck. Whether you help or not is your choice, but I know that if you do help this might end in a disaster."

Gilbert gazed at the very serious face of the Italian. His usually grumpy voice also had a serious tone to it now, and it was almost intimidating. _Almost_.

"Wow, someone just grew a pair of balls! So, what do you want me to do, _Captain_?" Gilbert smirked, pushing Lovino's hand from his arm.

"Well, I obviously don't want to do this with _you_, of all people. But, the teacher is a bastard, and I don't want to do this by myself because then you'd still get credit for it, too.." Lovino scratched his head, trying to think of a way to stay away from Gilbert, but also get a decent grade on the project.

"Chill, I'll do it with you. Let's start next week?"

"Next week is when it's due! Damn, you're so clueless.. why me?" Lovino facepalmed himself and sighed, wishing that for once, just once, this idiot wasn't such an.. idiot.

"We'll start today," Lovino decided.

"_Today_? You mean as in, the day after tomorrow sort of today?" Gilbert said, tilting his head in confusion.

"No, idiot. Today as in right now."

"No can do, I have important things to do today," Gilbert said, shaking his head in disapproval.

"What could _you_ possibly have to do today?" Lovino asked, wondering where he was going with this. He'd never thought about how Gilbert would be outside of the school. For all he knew, Gilbert could've really been the devil's son, retreating back to hell after school was out. He had completely forgotten that the German was in fact a person, just like himself. So he would obviously have a life and things to do.

"..Well, don't tell anyone, okay shrimp?" Gilbert looked around to see if anyone was listening before leaning in close to Lovino's ear.

Lovino was now very interested. Could the weird bastard really be some sort of supernatural creature? Was he a demon, who had to collect evil souls every day after school? Or, was he a vampire? It wouldn't be too hard to believe, considering the guy had very pale skin, gleaming red eyes, and snowy white messy hair. Nah, maybe he was simply something stupid. Like, a drug dealer or some crap like that.

"…The new expansion pack for WoW is coming out next week, but my friend works for the game store and he's letting me buy it a few days early, which is today! And for a discount, too." Gilbert pulled away and smirked mischievously.

Lovino blinked a few times before getting ready to hit the geek upside of his head. He stopped himself, though, considering the fact that Gilbert was a fighter.

"You're a big fucking idiot. But, because I'm going to have to deal with you for a very long time, I won't attempt to kill you. We're doing the project, today," Lovino said, insisting upon it.

"Nein. I already told you I'm not doing it today, stop bugging me," Gilbert turned back around and began walking away, but Lovino started to follow him.

"Yes, we are! We should get it over with now, and be done with it!" Lovino yelled, as he caught up to the ignorant albino and walked by his side. He efforts proved worthless, when Gilbert took out a pair of earphones and put them in, blasting the music from his ipod.

"Trying to ignore me, huh bastard? !" Lovino snatched the ipod from his hands and hid it behind his back.

"Heeey, give that back!" Gilbert pouted, for once he wasn't the one being the nuisance. He was now very irritated as Lovino stuck his tongue out and turned off the music.

"Not until you agree," Lovino sarcastically smiled as he examined the ipod, which had many scratches. But of course, it belonged to Gilbert so it would be anything far from perfect.

"Don't be a damn brat, hand it over," Gilbert said, scornfully.

"Agree to work on the project with me at my house, today."

"Your what?"

"My house. Come home with me and we'll work on the damn thing, then you can go.. do whatever the hell you were talking about."

Gilbert was surprised at this, being invited into the Italian's home. He was pretty sure that Lovino wanted nothing to do with him, not that he cared. He definitely didn't care. Nope, not at all. But, since the shorty was practically begging for his awesome presence in his home, he decided to reconsider. You know, just so he wouldn't disappoint his fans.

"Fine, but there better be good food," Gilbert sighed as Lovino handed the ipod back to him.

"Of course there will be, idiot. What'd you think? It's not like that crap you eat everyday."

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><p>The two of them walked to Lovino's house together, well perhaps not <em>together<em>. Lovino walked slightly ahead, leading the way so he wouldn't have to deal with Gilbert poking him every few seconds, or calling him weird names. Lovino sighed with relief as they finally arrived at his home, a few blocks away from the school. He was hungry, and he couldn't work on an empty stomach. Looking through his backpack, he couldn't find the key to the front door anywhere. He then remembered that he'd left it on the counter when he was taking the trash out that morning.

"Fuck."

"What, did you forget where you lived?"

"No, smart ass. I just.. forgot my key," Lovino said, looking down in embarrassment.

"Fail," Gilbert frowned, looking around for a window to break in through.

"Shut up! My brother should be home.." Lovino knocked on the door, and sure enough, he heard the pitter-patter of steps coming towards the door.

"Hello~? Oh, brother! And, there's someone behind you," Feliciano said, smiling cheerfully.

"Don't mind this bastard, he's a guest for today," Lovino said.

He led the way into the house, signaling for Gilbert to follow him. He could already smell delicious pasta being cooked, and couldn't wait to chow down. He walked upstairs and went down the hallway, leading to his bedroom door with a sign on it that said 'No Bastards Allowed' and had a cute little angry face drawn under it by Feliciano.

"Well.. today is an exception," Lovino said, glancing at Gilbert.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, now get your ass in there!" opening the door, Lovino pointed inside.

"So forceful. Alright, but don't try to rape me or anything," Gilbert smirked, as he welcomed himself inside and plopped down on the bed.

Lovino sighed, blushing as he set his backpack down and made sure there weren't any private things laying about. He knew Gilbert was a nosy bastard, he was already examining the room, looking for corner to corner. The only thing he'd be able to laugh at was how ordinary his room was. But, at least it was very neat.

"This house is even bigger on the inside," Gilbert said, playing with one of Lovino's pillows that was shaped like a tomato.

"I don't know.. It's average size to me," Lovino replied, grabbing the pillow and setting it back against the wall in its original place.

"And your brother? Man, he's so damn cute!" Gilbert smiled as he looked for something else to play with.

"Yeah. So don't go near him," Lovino said, glaring at the albino.

"How are _you _even related to someone so adorable?"

"You're pushing it."

"That was a super cute little apron he was wearing!"

"Seriously, shut the fuck up."

"I wish he was my little maid-" but just then, Gilbert's face met the pain of a large book, forcefully being thrown by a raging Lovino.

"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Lovino shouted, looking for something else to throw.

"Geez! What the hell was that for? You seriously need anger manage..ment.." Suddenly, Gilbert began to burst out with laughter.

"What's so damn funny? !" Lovino asked, walking over to the laughing German, ready to strangle him.

"What _is_ this?" Gilbert managed to say, holding out the book Lovino had thrown at him.

Lovino froze and felt his face quickly growing deep red, as he saw the book that he'd thrown was one of his romance novels. He could've sworn he'd only grabbed a library book! Why did he have to make such a mistake like that now, of all times? He tried to think up an excuse, but each second that went by felt like it was worthless to even try now.

"That's.. I mean! It's just.." but Lovino couldn't find the words, he was far too embarrassed to speak. Usually, when he was angry or embarrassed, he would hide under his sheets but it's impossible when the cause of your embarrassment is in the same room, and on your bed.

"So, you're a hopeless romantic, eh?" Gilbert asked, flipping through the pages of the book.

"So? What of it.." Lovino responded, not knowing where Gilbert was going with this.

"That's cool, I guess. I mean, if it's what ya like." he said, setting the book down and lying across the bed as if it was his own. Surprisingly, Lovino didn't say anything about it.

_He's not going to make fun of me?_

"I prefer medieval themes, with lots of action and a bit of side romance between the main character and his girl." Gilbert confessed, yawning as he snuggled the tomato pillow.

"You _read_?" Lovino asked, an expression of shock going across his face.

"Ouch! When you say it like that, you make it sound like I'm an idiot! Of course I read, when I want to."

"Well, you are an idiot. But that's interesting, I never thought you'd be into books." Lovino said, sitting down on the bed. He hadn't noticed that he was actually having a casual conversation with Gilbert without yelling, getting irritated, or throwing out random insults. It was kind of nice, but also strange.

"What did you think I'd be into?" Gilbert asked, curiously glancing up at Lovino.

"…Collecting evil souls?" he answered, turning his head as his cheeks turned red again.

"Haha! Whaaat? You definitely read too much fiction!" Gilbert teased, as he sat up and poked Lovino's puffy tomato-like cheeks.

"Shut up! It was just speculation!" Lovino puffed his cheeks even more, as he tried to swat Gilbert's hand away.

"You're weird as hell, tomato face," Gilbert smirked, patting Lovino on the head.

"Look who's talking, bastard."

Suddenly, the door came open and there stood a grinning younger Italian.

"The pasta is done!" Feliciano cheerfully announced.

"What did I tell you about knocking, Feli?" Lovino sighed as he got up from the bed and walked across the room to the door.

"Oh, sorry brother.. let me try again!" Feliciano exclaimed, walking out of the room.

"No no, just remember to do it next time, damn."

"Such cuteness," Gilbert grinned, getting up from the bed to follow Lovino.

"..Just shut the hell up and come on."

* * *

><p>Walking down the stairs, Gilbert gazed at all the different portraits of the Italian brother's ancestors and other family members. He imagined them to have a very big family lineage, even though they only lived with their grandfather, who wasn't there at the moment. Looking around the dining room and the downstairs hallway, everything was pretty much Italian themed. When it wasn't stylish or flashy, it was brilliant pieces of artwork that looked as if it came straight from the Italian Renaissance age. Everything about their home amazed Gilbert, it felt very warm and welcome. Although it was foreign, he could get used to this place.<p>

As they sat at the table with their steaming plates of delicious pasta, Feliciano excitedly told Gilbert all about his school day. Literally, he told him _all_ about it, from waking up that morning to coming home from the school.

"I can't believe you're really Luddy's big brother! I had no idea when you first came here," Feliciano smiled happily. Ludwig never really talked about his brother, and they didn't look alike, but he had told him his full name before.

"Yeah well, believe it! The Awesome Gilbert is sitting in your house, at your table, eating your pasta!" Gilbert widely grinned, as if the brothers should feel greatly honored to have him in their presence.

"You guys are so damn loud.. Can't we eat in peace?" Lovino said, grouchily. His already foul mood always became just a bit more sour whenever Ludwig was mentioned. He'd known they were brothers, all the more reason to dislike them, but now that Feliciano knew it would only mean more hell for him.

"What's the matter, princess?" Gilbert asked, stuffing another fork full of pasta into his mouth.

"I told you not to call me that, fucker." Lovino snarled, rolling his eyes.

"I think 'princess' is more appropriate than 'sexy legs', though."

"Why the hell would you call me that?" Lovino turned to him in confusion, but then remembered that Gilbert had commented on his legs that one day in the locker room. He suddenly felt violated, all over again as he hurriedly finished his pasta and tried to ignore the flirtatious looks that Gilbert kept sending his way.

"We should play a game together!" Feliciano suggested as they all finished their food and cleaned their dishes. It wasn't often that Lovino brought friends back to the house, in fact this was the first time. He wanted their guest to have lots of fun and to feel as welcome as possible.

"A game? I don't know, maybe-" suddenly, as if a brick full of memory hit him in the back of the head, Lovino remembered the very reason Gilbert was visiting.

"I like games," Gilbert said, winking towards Feliciano.

"You idiot! We didn't even start on the project! Shit, and that's the main reason your ass is here now!" Lovino yelled, frantically moving around before running towards the stairs.

"Calm down, it's not like it's my fault, I'm the guest! Which means we do whatever you say so, just like you said at school," Gilbert smirked, loving the fact that he was right and that Lovino did say such things.

"Damn you.. well we need to get started!"

"Wait, show me around the house first," Gilbert said, pointing to the back of the big house that he hadn't seen yet.

"_Why_?" Lovino asked impatiently.

"It's common courtesy, right?"

"Fine!" with a grunt, Lovino tugged Gilbert along by his sleeve towards the rest of the mysterious rooms in the house. He quickly showed him their three-car garage, magnificently decorated backyard, cute art room that only Feliciano used, the living room which held expensive furniture, and a nicely patterned bathroom which smelled of sweet roses.

"And that's it! Now let's go back to my room and-" Lovino was interrupted by an alarm going off that originated somewhere on Gilbert's body.

"Oh crap, that's my phone. Gotta go!" Gilbert smiled as he walked towards the front entrance and put back on his shoes.

"Where the hell are you going?" Lovino followed him in confusion.

"I have to be at work in 10 minutes."

"Work? Why do you need to work?"

"Gotta make a living!" opening the door, Gilbert thanked them for their hospitality and quickly left.

"We.. did nothing the entire time.." Lovino cursed under his breath as he kicked a nearby shoe and stomped up stairs, then slamming his door. All the effort he put into dragging the bastard to his house was wasted, and they hadn't even wrote down at least their names on the damn thing. Lovino knew he was going to sleep bad tonight.

_Still.. why does he have a part-time job?_

Lovino continued to wonder, although quite a few kids in his school were starting to get their first jobs, he'd never thought Gilbert would be one of them. The German seemed like the type of guy to sit around home all day, playing video games. And when he wasn't at home, he was probably out on the streets getting into all kinds of trouble for no good reason. He saw no part of any 'job' fitting into the jerk's life, maybe he'd made it all up so that he wouldn't have to work on the project. That must've been it, because that was way too much of a coincidence.

"Stupid bastard, I'll get you.." Lovino murmured as he finally fell asleep that night.

* * *

><p>A couple days later, Lovino made a strategy to finish this damn project once and for all. Even if he had to tie the bastard up and drag him back to his home, he would do it. Although at first the project seemed like a fun thing to do, with the exception of Gilbert, it was now starting to get on Lovino's nerves. He waited until the last bell for school rang so that he could start some business. As soon as he heard that wonderful sound, he grabbed Gilbert just in time before the albino could get up and fool around with his usual group of idiots.<p>

"Not so fast, bastard. You're coming to my place again," he said, glaring at Gilbert.

"Thanks for the invitation, sweetheart, but I'm not really up for it today."

"I don't give a shit what you're 'up for', we only have like 4 days left!" Lovino yelled, getting up and pulling Gilbert along against his freewill.

"That's plenty of time to jot down some stupid words!" Gilbert groaned, trying to get loose.

"This morning I talked to the teacher, and he said we could turn it in early! But the deadline is in 4 days, so we should finish it today."

"TODAY? That'll take all damn afternoon! My awesome day.. It'll be ruined!" Gilbert whined as he was continually being pulled along.

"You should've thought about that the first time."

No matter how much he protested, the determined Italian managed to drag him all the way back to his house again. Gilbert already felt the boredom creep into his body before they even entered the house. He let out a loud sigh as he removed his shoes and walked towards the stairs again. The only good thing that would come out of this was whatever Feliciano was cooking, it gave off a wonderful aroma and made Gilbert's stomach grumble.

"..Maybe we should see what little Feli is cooking up," Gilbert suggested, getting up from the floor in Lovino's room and walking towards the door.

"Sit your ass down! We're doing this, no food until we finish. I made sure to tell my brother that," Lovino said, pulling Gilbert back down to the short coffee table in the middle of the room.

As they sat in that silent room, they began to discuss the topic of their project. Well, they should've been discussing it, but Lovino was doing all the talking while Gilbert pretended to listen. Once in awhile, he glanced down to look at whatever notes the Italian was writing down on a piece of paper.

"History is so not awesome.."

"History is life, idiot. Don't disgrace our ancestors," Lovino scolded him, thinking of what to write next.

"Wait, we're writing about Italy?" Gilbert asked, noticing that Lovino had written down many events that occurred during the middle ages in Italy. Looking up at the laptop Lovino was using, he saw they were even on the wikipedia page for Italy.

"Yeah, why?"

"We should do it on Germany, much more awesome stuff," Gilbert snorted, grabbing the laptop and typing some things in.

"I already said we're doing it _my_ way! You're just supposed to help, which you haven't been doing at all!" Lovino shouted, trying to grab the laptop back.

"Ja, well I changed my mind. If I'm gonna be apart of this, it's going to be awesome."

"Nothing you do is 'awesome', damn it! You're a lousy, no good bastard, stop living in denial!" he continued to shout. But even Lovino had to admit, that was kind of messed up. It's not like it mattered to Gilbert though, you could say anything to him and he'd just brush it off like he wasn't even listening. Besides, Gilbert had been irritating Lovino all year long! So this was what he deserved, right?

"Whatever," Gilbert said, setting the laptop back onto the table.

_This feels awkward.._

Lovino continued to research and write down random things, but he couldn't shake the tension in the now completely silent room. Every once in awhile he glanced over at the albino, who was just staring off into space or playing with a pencil. It was probably the only time he wasn't being annoying, and although Lovino should've been relieved, this bothered him.

"Um.. I couldn't find all that much interesting stuff to write about, so.. I was thinking we just do something on Italy's interaction with Germany in the past..?" Lovino suggested, trying to break the uneasy silence.

"Sure, if that's what you wanna do."

"It has to be what you want to do, too!" Lovino said, blushing.

"Oh? You mean I actually get to choose something?" Gilbert asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, yeah.. It is _our_ project. It's only common sense that we both choose," he answered, hoping that he wouldn't later regret what he was saying.

"Feelin' bad about what you said, eh? Alright, let's go with that idea, darling," Gilbert smirked, as if he had been reading Lovino's mind.

"Please, don't push it.." Lovino sighed, moving the laptop into the middle so that they could both see the screen clearly.

And so they finally managed to work together without arguing, not counting the petty argument about who gets to type, and eventually they'd finished working after they took a short break to devour Feliciano's delicious meal once again.

"Finally! Bitches will be jealous when we're the first to turn in our work," Gilbert nodded his head in accomplishment, as he stood up to stretch.

"Suuure. Anyways, Germanic history is pretty.. Interesting," Lovino said, putting away the supplies they had used and neatly stacking the stapled papers on his desk.

"Likewise for the Italian's," Gilbert grinned, then looked at his cellphone, "Shit, it's so late now! Gilbird must be worried.."

"Gilbird? You mean that bird you took to school with you a few times and got in trouble _each time_?"

"Yeah. I filled his food bowl up with extra seeds, but he might be worried that he hasn't seen me since this morning," he frowned, gathering his bag up.

"Well then if he's eaten, don't worry about it.. It's too late to go home, so you should spend the night here," Lovino suggested, although he couldn't believe it himself how late it'd suddenly gotten. He could hardly even believe he was inviting the devil himself to sleep in his room. Well, perhaps he didn't see him as 'evil' anymore, just a very annoying bastard with problems.

"Oh wait, will your parents get angry if you sleep over at someone's house on a school night?" Lovino asked.

"…No," Gilbert finally replied, after hesitating for a few moments.

"Then it's settled. We'll awaken early in the morning, so you can go back to your place and get a change of clothes for school," Lovino said, walking over to his dresser and rummaging through it before grabbing a random pair of pajamas.

"Here, put these on," he said, shoving them into Gilbert's arms.

"Well, alright," setting the clothes on the table, Gilbert began to take off his shirt.

"Wait! Not in here, use the bathroom, damn it!" Lovino yelled, blushing as he turned his head.

"What's the difference? It's not like you're a girl or vice versa. I don't mind if you look or not," Gilbert winked.

"You're a weird bastard.." Lovino said, turning around as Gilbert continued to undress and put on the pajamas he was given.

Gilbert tugged at the oddly fitted clothing and moved around a bit, trying to get used to them.

"These feel.. so weird. It's like, soft but kind of tight."

"It's your fault for being taller than me," Lovino shrugged as he went into a closet in the hallway and brought back a big comforter and a pillow. But when he entered the room, Gilbert was on _his_ bed and under _his_ covers.

"Hell no! Your ass is sleeping on the floor, sneaky bastard!"

"Boo, you're no fun. I'm the guest, remember?" Gilbert pouted, taking the comforter and positioning himself on the floor next to Lovino's bed.

"Just go to sleep, we have to wake up earlier than usual.." Lovino said, and he lazily climbed into his bed and got comfortable under the covers.

"Wait! I just remembered something," Gilbert randomly blurted out.

"What now?"

"The princess is supposed to get a goodnight kiss from the prince!"

"…That's NOT how it goes, dumb ass! And I'm not a fucking princess, now goodnight!"

It _was_ a goodnight, until Lovino felt warmer than usual and could slightly feel breathing. Opening his eyes, he was shocked to find that the albino was curled up next to him in his bed now, his arms wrapped around Lovino's waist.

"W-What the hell are you doing? !" Lovino whispered loudly, he was tempted to kick the jerk out of his bed, but his body seemed to not want to move.

"Mm.. Oh, the floor wasn't as comfortable as I'd thought.." Gilbert responded, then quickly falling back to sleep.

Lovino groaned, then sighed as he decided this time he wouldn't fight it. Letting his eyelids shut down his vision, he fell back into another deep, peaceful sleep.

The next morning Gilbert was able to return home to change clothes before returning to school, just before the tardy bell rang. Just as they expected, they received a wonderful grade for their little project, and even a little extra credit for turning it in earlier than the deadline. Lovino sat in his seat, feeling ever so accomplished as he could now rest.

"Heeey, Lovi. Lovino, Lovino, Lovino, Lovinoooo."

Oh, that's right, Gilbert had now gone back to being his usual annoying-as-fuck self. Lovino tried to pretend he was asleep, but that plan greatly failed when Gilbert suddenly decided to pull his hair curl!

"CHIGIII!" Lovino screeched, sitting up straight and hatefully glaring at the giggling albino. His face was burning red now.

"Finally, you're awake! I was saying, we should hang out more often," Gilbert said, grinning like an idiot as he had finished copying off of Lovino's work.

_You gotta be kidding me.._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Gotta come up with chapter 3, thinking maybe some angsty stuff now. Yeah, need that badly. Hope you enjoyed this little random chapter I didn't put much thought into. :x**


	3. Behind the Mask

**A/N: Ugh, this one's pretty long I think. I couldn't help it! I'll fix any mistakes later again, my head hurts right now. xD Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Lovino glared hatefully into the big deep blue eyes of the French pervert, Francis. If the bastard thought he could just say whatever he wanted, he was wrong. Lovino wasn't going to put up with his shit, not today. He was up for the challenge, and he intended to take care of the stupid Spaniard that smiled cheerfully nearby, right after he'd knock the sickening grin off of the blondie's face that stood before him. They'd been messing with him all morning, whether it was just because Gilbert wasn't there to do it or because they were bored, Lovino didn't care. No one simply grabs onto his ass and gets away with it!<p>

"If you touch me again, I'll slice your dirty fingers off!" Lovino yelled, standing his ground.

"With what?" Francis asked, poking Lovino's soft red cheeks.

"I don't know! But I'll use a paperclip if I have to!" he yelled again, slapping the hand away.

"Can't we all be friends?" Antonio asked, smiling towards the other two who looked as if they were about to rip each other's throats open.

"NO! You guys are sick, I'd never want to be friends with the likes of you!" Lovino shouted, before holding his head high and storming off.

"Slow down there, love," Francis said, grabbing Lovino's arm and pulling him back towards him, "You never answered my question."

"What? !"

"What color are they?" Francis asked, pointing down to a specific area of Lovino's pants.

Lovino's face quickly flushed red as he understood what Francis was referring to. This guy should seriously be registered as a sex offender or something! First the bastard had slapped him on the ass, and now he was asking what color underwear he was wearing? Lovino wouldn't stand for this sexual harassment, not to mention all of the previous incidents that school year. He was just about to take his fingers and gouge those blue eyes out, when he was stopped, as usual.

"Guys, leave 'em alone."

They all turned around the see Gilbert, yawning and lazily walking down the hallway as if he had all the time in the world.

"Aw, why do you get to have all the fun?" Francis said, pouting.

"That's because, I saw him first. By the way, Mattie was looking for you earlier," Gilbert said, pointing to the direction he'd just came from.

"Hey Gil, why'd you only come to school just now? It's almost lunch," Antonio said.

Gilbert shrugged, and said, "I guess I woke up late."

Antonio gave him a quick pat on the shoulder before walking off to follow Francis.

"What?" Lovino asked, turning his head as Gilbert continued to stare at him.

"I saved you just now, so you owe me."

"What the fuck? I don't owe you shit, and I never asked for your help. Besides, you're usually the one starting it and then they join in," Lovino said, rolling his eyes as he started to walk past the albino.

"Hey.. what happened to your face?" he then stopped and asked, looking up at the bruise on Gilbert's cheek and the scratch mark above one of his eyebrows.

"Oh, this? I tripped."

"Yeah, right into a fist. Come on, you'd better get that looked at," Lovino suggested, signaling for Gilbert to follow him to the nurse's office.

"It's a waste of time, these small scars are nothing to the Awesome Gilbert! Besides, she's not in there. I checked only a few minutes ago," Gilbert said, but he still followed the Italian into the office anyway.

"Just shut up, I'll fix it up for you," Lovino said, looking around the office before reaching into a drawer and pulling out a bag of cotton balls and a bottle of alcohol.

"..That stuff burns, you're not putting that on my face," Gilbert frowned, shaking his head. But Lovino shoved him into a chair and dabbed his face with the stuff anyway.

"Don't be a wuss.. See? That wasn't so bad," Lovino giggled a little as Gilbert cringed his face in discomfort.

"That wasn't bad at all! I take stuff far worse than this, all the time!"

"Want me to use more?"

"No!" Gilbert immediately answered.

"That's what I thought.. So, how'd you _really_ get those marks?" Lovino asked, not buying his previous story of having tripped.

"It's nothing, really. I just, got into another brawl this morning is all. Don't open your big mouth to anyone, the principal said I might get expelled if I got into another fight."

"It's not like I give a shit about what you do, but why do you get yourself into trouble if you know there will be consequences?" Lovino asked, putting away the materials he'd used.

"Hey, he pulled the first punch! And I ended it. Bastard won't mess with this awesome beast anymore," Gilbert smirked, pointing his thumbs toward himself.

"Who's 'he'?"

"I don't know, but he was talking shit."

"So, you got into a fight with a random guy and came to school super late cause of it? Wow.. you're more of an idiot than I thought," Lovino said, shaking his head.

"My business is my own. And, why did you help me just now?" Gilbert asked, raising one eyebrow.

"I didn't help you! I just didn't want have to look at your ugly face for the rest of the day! Yeah, it's ugly enough without all those bruises," Lovino snorted, turning away as he tried to hide his blushing face.

"Sure, whatever. Denial isn't cute. Anyways, I should go over your house after school today," Gilbert suggested, getting up from the chair.

Lovino instantly turned around and stared at the German in disapproval.

"Why? The project was finished like almost three weeks ago. There's no reason for you to come over my house anymore," he said, shaking his head.

"So? I feel like having pasta tonight for dinner, think you can make that happen?" Gilbert asked, walking over to Lovino and repeatedly poking him in the cheeks.

"I'm not your damn servant! Buy your own pasta, bastard," Lovino yelled, smacking Gilbert's hand away and walking out of the office.

"Don't be so cold, princess. Hmm, 'ice princess'.. I like the sound of that. So! Can I come over?" Gilbert prodded on, following Lovino back to the classroom.

"No! And that's final."

Lovino wasn't going to change his mind. When he said something was final, he meant it. But, that didn't mean Gilbert wouldn't continue to bug him. All throughout P.E, Lovino ran from the jerk as he asked him, over and over again. He even began to suggest some strange 'activities' they could do alone in his room. Lovino began to lose his patience when Gilbert started talking about how he wanted to see Feli in an apron again, and how they should play games this time, even though he claimed to be the 'best at everything' and would 'own their asses' at any game. Even until the very end of school, the begging would not cease.

* * *

><p>"Are you seriously fucking following me home? !" Lovino yelled, walking faster as Gilbert was not far behind him on his way home.<p>

"I'm not following you. I just so happen to be going this way!" Gilbert yelled back, smiling as he followed on.

"Just because you're here, doesn't mean I have to let your ass in," Lovino hissed, getting the key from his bag as he stood at the front door of his home. As soon as he would unlock it, he'd run in and slam the door behind him! Yeah, and if the bastard's leg or hand got smashed in between it, who cares! He shouldn't have come here uninvited.

His evil plan would have worked, but just as he opened the door, he was greeted with a tight hug from two big arms.

"Welcome home, ometto!" said Lovino's grandfather, lifting him up into the hug.

"Ah! Put me down, damn it! You'll let the demon in!" but he was too late, Gilbert had already took it upon himself to enter the house and stand there in confusion as the older man set Lovino back onto the ground.

"Yay! Gilbert's here, too!" Feliciano exclaimed, coming from around the corner with his usual apron on.

"Ah, so you're Gilbert? Nice to meet ya! I'm Caesar, their grandfather. So you can call me Grandpa Caesar!" he said, grabbing Gilbert's hand and rapidly shaking it.

Gilbert smiled awkwardly and wondered how the hell this strong man could possibly be their grandfather. At most, he looked to be in his early 40s, and not a single strand of grey hair rested upon his head. He had nicely toned biceps, as far as Gilbert could see, a rough beard, and chestnut colored hair just like Lovino. But his was much more messy, and had small curls coming out of it in random places.

"Man, you look hungry! So frail, too. Why don't you have dinner with us? Best pasta in town!" Caesar said, smiling as he led them all to the table, "It's not often I get the honor of meeting a friend of Lovi's. I didn't know he had any! Haha!"

Lovino growled and sat down in a chair, wishing for a second that the straight-forward man wasn't his grandfather, that way he could give him a piece of his mind.

"Yeah, that's true!" Gilbert agreed. He instantly took a liking to the guy. He was very blunt, getting straight to the point of things. He was also funny, and had a contagious smile.

"Don't get carried away.. You're leaving after this meal," Lovino said, rolling his eyes and digging into the pasta.

But it was as if none of them had even heard him. They continued to talk about odd things and laugh at every other sentence. Even Feliciano joined in the fun, and Lovino eventually found himself listening intently, as he couldn't help but be interested now.

"So, why weren't you here the other two times I visited? If you don't mind me asking," Gilbert said, gulping down another fork full of pasta.

"Oh, I'm usually not here at night. I travel a lot, never letting my age stop me! And so, I spend the night at one of the houses of my different girlfriends, depending on where I am," he answered, nonchalantly.

"Wow, _girlfriends_? As in, more than one? Nice!" Gilbert praised him.

"You bet. I believe it's only healthy that I spread my love around, equally."

Great, just what Lovino needed. Listening to his grandfather continually brag about his many lovers and then getting praised by the albino bastard was not cool at all. He looked towards Feliciano for help, to stop this nonsense but the innocent boy just smiled happily as he finished his plate of pasta.

_I'm surrounded by idiots._

After their delicious warm dinner, Caesar urged them to go upstairs while he took care of the dishes, since Lovino had a very special guest. Lovino sighed, plopping down onto his bed, wishing he'd at least had homework to do to distract himself. But, today the teachers had decided to be nice bastards for once and didn't assign any homework. Just his luck, now he'd have to entertain Gilbert, who was rummaging through Lovino's neat stack of DVDs.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Gilbert asked, turning to face Lovino.

"Fine, I guess.. what'd you have your eye on?" Lovino said, getting up from the bed and walking over to fix the now messy stack.

"Got any porn?"

"..Where the hell do you think you are? !" he shouted, blushing deeply now.

"I was just kidding, but I guess that means you obviously don't have any," Gilbert sighed, turning back to the stack.

"You're seriously fucked up in the head.. I guess my family is, too. They accepted you so easily, without even giving it a second thought or considering my feelings."

"What's wrong with that? Besides, they're great! I don't see why you complain so much," Gilbert shrugged, taking a random movie and putting it into the player.

"I don't _complain_ about anything, I simply express my thoughts openly," Lovino said, puffing his cheeks out.

"Well, you shouldn't complain. I mean, you have one hell of a nice house and room, lots of food to eat, and I've seen your closet, that's **a lot **of outfits. You've even got an awesome family," Gilbert explained, smiling to himself.

"I suppose that's true.. But, everyone has a family."

Gilbert instantly averted his gaze to the Italian and shook his head, laughing.

"You have no idea about the world."

"What's that supposed to mean, bastard?" Lovino frowned, feeling uneasy about that previous statement.

"Whatever you want it to mean. Now watch the movie," Gilbert smirked, turning back to the movie.

They sat together in that cool, silent room, watching some random action film Gilbert chose. Every once in awhile the albino commented on how he 'could do that', whenever the characters did a badass stunt or defeated the enemies. Lovino only laughed silently to himself, thinking about how much bullshit Gilbert was putting out. After a little over an hour, their movie was interrupted when the familiar alarm on Gilbert's phone went off.

"Damn.. Welp, I'm out. See ya, shrimp," Gilbert said, as he quickly stood up and walked towards the door.

"Uh, wait! Where are you going?" Lovino asked, curiously.

"Work? Duh?" Gilbert replied, raising one eyebrow as he'd thought Lovino was losing his memory.

"You mean you seriously have a job? I thought that was an excuse for last time," Lovino said, a shocked expression appearing on his face.

"Why would I need an excuse?"

"Never mind. So what's this job require that you do? Is it legit?" Lovino was now very curious, still considering the possibility that Gilbert was a drug dealer of sorts, or maybe he was a pimp! No, he's not cool enough to do such a thing. His job was probably just him going around, hustling people out of their money and gambling.

"Of course it's legit! It's awesome and I don't have to tell you about it," Gilbert said, smirking as he saw that Lovino was very interested and wanted to tease him a bit.

"Aha! So that must mean it isn't legit!"

"It is!" Gilbert insisted, but groaned as he saw Lovino didn't believe a word he was saying, "Fine, geez.. It's a pet shop. I work at the pet shop."

"A pet shop?" Lovino said, tilting his head in confusion.

"Yeah. I go there all the time to buy more food for Gilbird, so they gave me a job when I needed one. I'm close friends with the owner," Gilbert confessed.

"Oh, that's pretty neat, I guess.. saving up money to buy something?" he asked again, still wondering why Gilbert needed a job in the first place.

"You're wasting my time, I seriously gotta go. Gute nacht!" Gilbert smiled and ran down the stairs, bidding farewell to Feliciano and Caesar before exiting the house.

Every little thing that Lovino learned about Gilbert intrigued him. He'd never given it much thought before, but now he wished to know everything, even his favorite color. He opened up a notebook and used a pencil to write down all of the things he knew so far. When he read over the list, he was surprised to see that he only knew a handful of things.

"He's a perverted bastard with a huge ego, he likes to piss people off, mainly me; he likes to read, he listens to heavy metal, and he works at a pet shop," Lovino said aloud to himself.

Shaking his head, he put the notebook away and went to bed a few hours later, deciding to find out more about the mysterious German the next day at school.

* * *

><p>All throughout the morning, Lovino observed as Gilbert fooled around with other students, got in trouble once, and stared off into space randomly. None of these activities were new, and Lovino was starting to get bored, assuming that those five things he listed about Gilbert were the only things to the albino's life.<p>

_Oh well._

At lunch time, Lovino sat in his desk enjoying another zesty sandwich he'd put together himself that morning. He made sure to keep his chocolate milk out of reach from any 'nuisances' that might have come by, namely Gilbert. And just as he'd thought, the albino took it upon himself to visit Lovino's peaceful area to ruin the solitude.

"Sweet, another sandwich. Let me get a bite, tubby," Gilbert smirked, licking his lips as he intensely stared at the deliciousness.

"Nope," Lovino replied, slowly taking another bite and humming to himself.

"Fine. I guess you can make me one of those babies when I go to your house today."

"You just came yesterday, _without_ my invitation, jerk. You're not coming to my house today," Lovino instantly rejected, shaking his head.

"Why not? I seemed very welcome last time."

"Sadly. But, the answer is still no… maybe we could go to your house, and I might consider making a sandwich for you then. _Might_," he casually suggested.

Gilbert's expression changed from mischievous to disapproving. He sat there for a second, before shaking his head.

"Nah, it's alright," he then went back to bothering the other students outside in the hallway.

_What's his deal.._

Lovino found it strange how he'd suddenly changed his mind. It wasn't fair that the German could go over his house a few times but he couldn't go over Gilbert's. Whatever secrets he was hiding, Lovino swore to himself that he'd find out. Gilbert seemed to have avoided him for the rest of the day, but Lovino shrugged it off and asked him again anyway, after school was out.

"Hey, you. Wait up!" Lovino called out, catching up to Gilbert as he was exiting the school grounds.

"Did you change your mind about me coming over?" Gilbert asked, smiling.

"No. But, I haven't changed my mind about going to your house, either."

"But why? It's nothing special," Gilbert said, scratching his head.

"It's not fair, though! You went to my house, now let me go to yours, damn it!" Lovino yelled, insisting upon making the visit.

"Alright, damn! Just don't expect food or good hospitality, I wasn't expecting a _visitor_," Gilbert sighed as he began leading the way to his house.

"It's not like I want your shitty food, anyway," Lovino said, but a big smile went across his face as he'd finally gotten his way. Maybe Gilbert had loads of embarrassing things lying about, things he'd never wanted anyone to see! Like Barbie dolls, porn, and old naked baby pictures.

Finally arriving in a rather desolate area, Lovino gazed at the house in front of him. It was a rather small house, which probably held two bedrooms at most. The grass around it was brown and dry, and the only life the flowerbed held was a small bush, as the rest of the plants and flowers were dead. Other than the bad landscaping, the exterior of the small house was very cute. It looked as if it had been built at least seventy years ago, as it had a very old style to it. It was nicely colored; milky white with blue hedges. Lovino imagined it as a big dollhouse.

Entering the small home, Lovino found that the interior wasn't nearly as cute as the exterior. The walls were a nice light beige color, but there was junk lying in random places. He'd forgotten, this _was_ Gilbert's house so there would obviously be lots of junk.

"You should really clean this up," he said, stepping over a small pile of loose newspapers.

"Yeah well, like I said, I wasn't expecting anyone," Gilbert shrugged, going into the kitchen, "Want a pepsi? I've got one left."

"No, thanks," gazing around, Lovino saw no other sign of life other than a small vase of withering flowers.

"Oh well, more for me!" Gilbert said, emerging from the kitchen, loudly slurping the cool can of soda.

"So, where are your parents?" Lovino asked, following the albino up the narrow wooden stairway that led to the second floor.

"Who knows? And who cares."

"You're unbelievable.." Lovino sighed and shook his head.

"Welcome to my awesome lair!" Gilbert said, opening the door to a dark room at the end of the narrow upstairs hallway.

"I should've expected this.." looking around inside, Lovino winced at the junk on the floor. Not only was it on the floor, it was_ everywhere_. Lovino could barely make out the furniture in the room. There was a twin-sized bed, a small desk with an average computer on it, a chair, a dresser, a birdcage, and a little stereo on the floor. The walls were covered with posters of metal bands, celebrities and exotic places from all over the world.

_So he wants to travel?_

"Wait, do you share this room with the potato bastard..?" Lovino asked, he'd only noticed two other doors upstairs. One which was open, and led to the bathroom. The other one must've been the master bedroom, although it couldn't have been too much bigger than this one. So where did the other German sleep?

"Nope, he doesn't live here."

"What do you mean? He's your brother, isn't he?" he said, glancing over at Gilbert who seemed preoccupied with removing Gilbird from his cage.

"Yeah, but I'm not old enough to take care of him. So, he still lives with our foster parents," Gilbert said, feeding small seeds to the little bird on his shoulder he added, "I live alone."

"How do you 'live alone'? What about your real parents?" Lovino continued to ask these questions, as he walked over and gently petted the small bird on the head.

"Like I said before, who cares. They didn't want me, they never did. And since they don't care about me, why should I care about them? And those foster parents are fuckers, so I left as soon as I turned 17," Gilbert casually explained as if he didn't mind any of it, he then took the bird from his shoulder and placed it on Lovino's head, "Haha, I think he likes you."

"Oh.. who's that guy staring at us?" Lovino asked, pointing to a portrait of a middle aged man on the dresser.

"Old Fritz," Gilbert smiled, walking over to the dresser, he gently traced the frame of the picture with his index finger.

"Is he your uncle or something?"

"No, he adopted Luddy and I. The three of us lived here, until a couple years ago.." Gilbert said, he voice trailing off.

"Please tell me about it.. about you," Lovino requested, glancing over at the silenced albino.

"..Fine. It's a long, boring story so I'll make it short," he sighed and began, "Luddy and I aren't blood related, but we're both German orphans and we grew up together in that hell. One day, about 8 years ago, the man in this picture adopted us. Well, he adopted me but I said I wouldn't leave Luddy behind because we're like brothers."

He paused for a second to think, and then continued, "I don't know why he adopted us, but he did. He was very kind to us, when the three of us lived here together. It only lasted for about 6 years, then he got terribly sick and was hospitalized... and he still is. That's why we have foster parents, but they'll never be anywhere near as awesome as Old Fritz."

For the first time ever, Lovino felt lots of sympathy towards someone. And of all people, it was Gilbert, the very person he had previously despised the most. He even started to feel guilty inside, taking his own good fortune for granted, and for the way he had been treating the lonely German. Even though he thought he had every right to hate the boy's guts, for always messing with him, he couldn't find it in his heart to hold a grudge against someone that was obviously crying out for help.

"And.. what about your job at the pet store?" Lovino asked, still wondering on the subject.

"It's so I can live here freely. This house was built by Old Fritz's father, and he owned the small land around it. So there's no need to pay rent. But, I still need to pay for things like electricity, plumbing, internet.." Gilbert sighed, thinking about all the of the expenses.

"But it's not much! Since I'm the only one living here. I make sure to recycle and crap like that. Saves money. The pet store pays well, and as long as I don't have to live with those foster bastards, I'll do anything to stay here in my _real_ home," Gilbert smirked and added, "When I become of age, I'll adopt Luddy."

"And then the three of you can live here again, right? Once uhh, Old Fritz gets better!" Lovino said, trying to sound positive. This was the first time he'd _ever_ tried to sound positive.

Gilbert let his head drop and lazily shook it, disagreeing.

"I wish.. but, the doctors say he'll be gone any day now. There's no healing, getting better, treatment, cure, or whatever else you want to call it.. but hey! That's life."

Lovino felt a knot in his stomach, as his attempt to make things better seemed to only make them worse.

"Oh.. well, one more question," Lovino said.

"Geez, what is this? 'Ask Gilbert 500 Questions Day'? Fine, go ahead."

"Are you lonely?" he asked, facing the albino and staring into his crimson red eyes.

Gilbert blinked at him for a few seconds before wearing a fake smile, "No way! Because, being alone is pure awesome! No one telling me what to do, where to go.."

"So.. you are, aren't you?" Lovino asked again, seeing through his façade.

"..What do you think?" Gilbert said, smiling again. A smile that was filled with nothing but sadness, and it matched perfectly to the loneliness that filled his eyes.

* * *

><p>Lovino suddenly lifted his hand to rest it on Gilbert's shoulder. Blushing, he thought of what he should say to remove the horribly depressing look from Gilbert's face. He thought this look didn't suit him at all. It was far too different from his usual teasing face. It almost made Lovino want to pull him into a tight hug and tell him that it was okay, even though it wasn't…<p>

"Well! Umm.. you don't have to be lonely! I mean, there's lots of things you can do to be happy.. damn it.. I know! The sandwich, uhh.. I'll make one for you! Just ask me.. just ask and I'll do it!" Lovino blurted out, his face burning with red now.

Gilbert only stared at him in confusion before asking, "Are you trying to cheer me up?"

"Is it working..?"

"Maybe. And, I know what you can do for me right now," Gilbert said, tilting his head.

"What?" Lovino quickly looked back up.

"Kiss me."

"W-WHAT? !" Lovino's eyes widened as he felt his chest tighten, "Gil.. Gilbert?"

"Haha! I just wanted to see your reaction, which was priceless!" Gilbert laughed loudly, poking Lovino's tomato cheeks as the Italian still stood there in shock, "And.. did you just call me 'Gilbert'?"

"Well.. that is your name, isn't it?" he said, looking down at the floor as he was now too embarrassed to look the albino in the eyes anymore.

"I assumed you thought it was 'bastard'. Or fucker, idiot, perv, dumb ass-"

"Okay, okay! I get it. Your name is Gilbert.. Gilbert Beilschmidt. So call me by my name, too!"

"Alright, Lovino," Gilbert said, smiling as he gently patted the blushing boy on the head.

Suddenly, the alarm on Gilbert's phone rang once again.

"Oh, it's time to go.. I'm working double shifts today, extra money."

Exiting the 'awesome lair' and the small house, they walked down to the main street in the more populated area together, before they departed for the day.

"You know the way back, right?" Gilbert asked, pointing in the direction they had come from earlier.

"Yeah.. and um, you should come to my place sometime.. when you're not busy."

"I'll take you up on that offer! Thanks, Lovi," waving goodbye, Gilbert turned left and hurriedly walked down the street to the pet store.

That night, Lovino lied on his bed, thinking about all of the things he'd learned that day. Remembering about the notebook, he quickly got up and pulled it out from under his desk. Opening it up, he quickly turned to the page in which he had listed things he knew about Gilbert. After reading it over, he took a pen and drew a big X mark over the list. Under it, he wrote down just one sentence.

"Gilbert is a human being."

Smiling to himself, he closed the notebook and crawled back into bed, quickly falling into a deep, peaceful sleep.

The next morning at school, Lovino was surprised to see Gilbert didn't show up to class. The German didn't even come late at lunch or anything. He took the risk of asking Antonio and Francis where he might've been, but they didn't know either. Any other day, Lovino would have rejoiced and went home to celebrate an entire day of not getting annoyed. But after the events of the day before, for some reason, he'd hoped to see Gilbert's usual smiling face that day. His hopes soon failed him when the last bell for school rang and everyone got up to go home.

_Damn it, Gilbert.. where are you?_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I didn't know what to name Grandpa Rome, so I named him after Julius Caesar. :D **

**For anyone wondering, here's what I made up for Gilbert's life: Gilbert's mom was a young woman of about 19 or 20 years old. She dropped Gilbert off at an orphanage when he was just a baby. And well, you know how some orphanages can be. He got into fights a lot and became close to Ludwig, and protected the younger boy. Then when he was like 9, they got adopted by Old Fritz and lived happily until his old age and terminal illness shot him down. So now he lives at one of those elderly hospital places, and Gilbert visits him often.**


	4. Not Alone

**A/N: Tadaaa~! Been typing this up for hours. Umm blah blah blah, please enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Standing outside of the school, Lovino couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. He watched as most of the students left now, and couldn't bring himself to forget about it and just go home himself. He waited awhile longer, until he finally spotted a specific freshman that he was looking for. The sight of the blond haired younger boy usually churned his stomach, but right now he didn't really care.<p>

"Hey, potato bastard! Wait up," Lovino called out, jogging towards Ludwig who immediately turned around as he recognized his unwanted nickname.

"What?" he said, as Lovino approached him.

"Why didn't Gilbert come to school today?" Lovino asked, staring into the boy's baby blue eyes.

"He didn't? Well, maybe he just felt like skipping today. He usually does."

"How do you not know about your own brother missing school? Don't you visit him sometimes?" Lovino asked, earning a confused expression from Ludwig who then realized that Gilbert must've told the Italian about their home situation.

"Well no, my foster parents don't allow me to go there. Sometimes he visits me after school or on the weekends, though. Speaking of which, here they are. Sorry, I have to go," and with that, Ludwig hurriedly walked towards a small car that pulled up to the curb and hopped in before it drove off.

_Well that sure as hell didn't help.._

Lovino shrugged and sighed to himself as he began to walk away from the school. Ludwig was probably right, the stupid albino most likely felt lazy today and decided to skip school altogether. He would sometimes do that randomly, and Lovino would be able to relax the entire day at school. Well, until Francis or Antonio decided to bother him. But when they didn't, he was the happiest kid in the world for those full 24 hours.

He wish he had felt that way now, but he just couldn't for some reason. Learning more about Gilbert proved to change the way he saw him a bit, and he felt the curiosity sinking into his brain. Turning around, he quickly walked off to the direction Gilbert had taken him the day before.

_I'll just see if he's at home._

Finally arriving in that same desolate area from before, he stood on the quiet front porch of the cute small home. There wasn't any doorbell, so he loudly knocked on the hard old door. After a few tries, he was about to walk away, assuming Gilbert had left the house to go and get into trouble somewhere else. But soon he heard a slow pair of footsteps descending the creaky old stairs inside of the house. Eventually, it arrived at the front door and opened it.

Staring at the disaster in front of him, Lovino saw that Gilbert was still in his pajamas and his white hair was messier than usual. His skin was also paler than before, and he had dark marks under his eyes which were now bloodshot red. He looked as if he had gone through two tornadoes and somehow survived. The German faintly smiled as he saw that it was Lovino whom had knocked on his door.

"You look like shit. What'd you do, stay up all night playing WoW?" Lovino said, welcoming himself into the house as Gilbert stepped aside.

"Ngh... no," Gilbert groaned tiredly, closing the door and locking it.

"So, why didn't you come to school today?" Lovino asked, as he looked around for anything suspicious.

"I wasn't feeling awesome at all, so I stayed in. If you came here to deliver homework, you can leave right now."

"I wouldn't waste my time doing such a thing, besides it's not like you'd do the homework anyway," Lovino snorted, taking a seat in one of the chairs at the small dining room table.

"Well that's good, because I don't.. don't.." Gilbert started to say, but then suddenly ran into the small downstairs bathroom and slammed the door shut.

_What the hell?_

Lovino got up from the chair and walked towards the bathroom door, gently knocking on it.

"Gilbert?" he said, leaning his ear against the door. He faintly heard the sound of struggling coughs and the toilet being flushed, "Are you alright?"

The toilet flushed again and he soon heard the sound of the sink running as Gilbert washed his hands. Eventually, the door opened up and Gilbert stood there for a split second before losing his balance and almost crashing onto the floor.

"What's wrong? !" Lovino asked, as caught the albino just in time.

"It's nothing.. I've just been puking my guts out all day," Gilbert weakly responded.

"Do you have the flu or something?" Lovino asked, propping Gilbert up into a nearby chair, "It's not even winter yet, though.." placing a hand on the weak guy's forehead, he found that it was slightly warm.

"I'm too awesome to get sick." Gilbert said, he would have shown his usual smirk but it was just too painful to do anything besides quietly speak.

"No time for any damn jokes. When did you start feeling this way?" Lovino asked again, as he walked into the kitchen and filled an empty glass with cool water.

"Very early this morning, I guess? Around 4 or 5.." he said, then slowly drank the glass of water that Lovino handed to him.

"Hmm.. what was the last thing you ate before you got sick?"

Gilbert weakly lifted an arm and pointed to the plate of leftover wurst lying on the counter.

"It was extremely cheap, so I bought it."

"And that's probably why you're sick now, dumb ass! Did you even check the expiration date?" Lovino yelled, taking the plate of wurst and tossing it into the garbage.

"Isn't that the store's job?"

"You're so reckless, don't just buy things because they're cheap, idiot!" Lovino frowned and shook his head. Wrapping one arm around Gilbert's waist, he helped him stand up and slowly escorted him up the stairs, back to his bedroom.

"You can't just eat that crap all the time, you need stuff like.. fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and carbohydrates!" Lovino continued to scold him, as he gently set Gilbert down on the bed.

"Haha, you sound like a mom.. and I like wurst! It's easier to eat just one thing," Gilbert jokingly said, picking up an open bag of chips off of his desk that he hadn't finished and munching on a hand full.

"No more junk food!" Lovino confiscated the bag and began searching the room for more junk. He collected candy, another bag of chips, and some sunflower seeds.

"This is really unnecessary.." Gilbert frowned as Lovino stuffed everything in his backpack.

"You're so stubborn. You have to stay healthy.. It's dangerous living alone, and if something were to happen to you then no one would know for awhile!"

"No one would care, either," Gilbert said, sighing as he laid back onto the bed.

"That's not true! I would," Lovino yelled, then stopped and wondered to himself if what he had just said was true. There were many times that he had wished Gilbert would simply disappear, or explode into thin air. Then his life would've been much easier. Now, as he stood there in the German's room, he realized it would be a terrible thing if something tragic were to befall on Gilbert.

Gilbert immediately sat up and stared at the Italian who was deep in thought.

"You would?" he asked, raising one eyebrow as he'd thought Lovino couldn't possibly care about him or his wellbeing at all. But it must've been true, because here he was, making sure Gilbert was alright.

"Well.. yeah! I mean, you're not getting out of life that easy!" Lovino puffed his cheeks, blushing as he sat down on the bed next to Gilbert.

"You know.. It would probably be easier if you lived with your foster parents. Why do you hate them so much?" Lovino then asked, turning to face the German whose facial expression changed to an angry one.

"So they can boss me around and shove their psychotic beliefs down my throat again? Yeah, no thanks," Gilbert shook his head, looking down at the floor, he added, "You see what they've done to Ludwig. He wasn't always so obedient and serious like he is now.."

"Was it really that bad?"

"They always told me I was a bad kid, useless and unwanted. They said I'd never amount to anything, and that I needed to be disciplined. Well I said fuck them, I couldn't take it anymore. And so I left."

Lovino had never seen so much angst in anyone's eyes that he saw now. He figured that all of Gilbert's senseless aggression originated from the pain he felt all these years. Starting from being abandoned and never knowing his real parents, living at an orphanage full of hatred and bullying, and to the verbal abuse that he dealt with from his foster parents. He almost wished he had known sooner, maybe then he and Gilbert could've been good friends.

"Well, you have to stay strong and prove those evil bastards wrong!" Lovino said, putting a reassuring hand on Gilbert's shoulder.

"Thanks, I guess.. my awesomeness will prevail!" Gilbert weakly smiled before cringing in pain, "Shit.. my head hurts like hell."

"That's because you need to rest. You lost a lot of fluids today, and you're not eating properly.. I should make your school lunches from now on," Lovino said, forcing Gilbert to lie down in the bed and covering him with the old and worn out blanket.

"How can you be so kind to someone like me?" Gilbert asked, shutting his heavy eyelids.

"That's.. well, it's only natural to help someone in need. Now go to sleep," he answered, getting up to walk out.

Reaching out, Gilbert grabbed his wrist.

"Are you leaving?" he asked, his voice sounding melancholic.

"Not yet.. I'm going to clean this junk up first."

* * *

><p>Going back downstairs, Lovino almost wished he hadn't made that promise. Looking around, there was so much junk that he couldn't tell what wasn't. He let out a long sigh before getting to work. Stuffing loose papers and wrappings into the garbage, he checked the refrigerator for anything that had gone bad.<p>

_What the fuck is this?_

He stared in disgust at the green sandwich he found before quickly shoving it into the bag. The fridge was mostly empty except for another pack of wurst, potatoes, some water bottles, and soda cans.

_He'll die off of this shit.._

Lovino decided that maybe he'd deliver some healthier food to his home next time. After he took the garbage out, he went back into the kitchen to wash the dishes and clean the counters. It took longer than he'd hoped, because he wasn't used to doing chores. Whenever he tried, he'd get annoyed and give up, waiting for Feliciano to finish it for him. Nonetheless, he did his best to clean this small house.

Putting away a stack of loose books, he discovered one that wasn't a book at all, but a photo album. The cover of the album was in German, and when he opened it up he couldn't help but smile. It was filled with pictures of Gilbert and Ludwig as young children, taken during the six years that they lived in that house. The one he found the most cute, was a picture of the two at the local zoo. A small Gilbert of about 10 years old, held hands with a shorter Ludwig who was probably 7. He couldn't believe that Gilbert was actually cute at one point in his life, he even found that Ludwig was adorable.

_They look so happy.._

After he went through the book with a smile on his face the entire time, he found that it was getting late and he had to return home. Going back upstairs, he went into the bedroom to find Gilbert was still peacefully sleeping. He didn't want to wake him up, but he had to let him know that he would be leaving now. He sat down on the bed, but before he could wake the German up, he woke up on his own from the sudden movement.

"Oh, um.. I'm leaving now, so here's my cell phone number and the number to my house, in case you can't reach this one. Call one of those if you need anything," Lovino said, putting the piece of paper next to Gilbert's pillow, "But if you feel really sick, you had better call 911 first."

Gilbert slowly nodded and fell back to sleep, still very exhausted. Smiling to himself and feeling accomplished, Lovino went back to his own home.

The next day, Lovino felt very relieved when Gilbert showed back up to school. Though, he was tardy as usual. At least he still wore his usual smirk and scheming eyes. He even did a great job in annoying Lovino again, too. But the Italian secretly didn't mind much, because Gilbert's little comments weren't actually harsh anymore.

"Here. Take it," Lovino said, blushing as he shoved a bag into Gilbert's arms.

"Hm?" taking the contents out of the bag, Gilbert smiled as he stared at the big delicious-looking sandwich, an apple, a small cup of yogurt, and a juice pouch.

"I made the sandwich myself, so you better be thankful," Lovino said, nervously scratching his head.

"Ja, ja. Thanks!" Gilbert immediately took a bite of the sandwich and let out a sigh of delight, "It's delicious~"

"Of course it is, it's Italian! Now eat up, I can almost see your bones."

After they each finished their delicious lunches made by none other than Chef Lovino, they walked around the hallways waiting for the next class to start. Suddenly, Gilbert started to complain.

"I can't believe I missed work yesterday! Stupid illness.. now I'll have to work double shifts again," he whined, throwing his arms up into the air as if he had given up.

"Can't you miss one day?" Lovino asked.

"Well yeah. But then I'll have to sacrifice something in return. I still have to use some of the money to buy healthy food, then there's the issue with the water bill, bastards trying to say I paid it off late.."

Lovino stood there in confusion as Gilbert calculated his losses and expenses in his head. He seemed to be in a complex train of thought, and it was even starting to give Lovino a headache.

"Hey, Gilbert? I know you probably didn't want anyone else to know about your living situation.. but, last night I talked to my grandfather about it," Lovino started, twiddling his fingers, "And well, he said you're welcome to stay with us any time you needed."

"Oh, really? Wow, um-"

"So you should come home with me today! And you know, stay for a couple of days until you're back on your feet and feeling awesome again!" Lovino blurted out.

Gilbert stood there for a few moments before deciding to accept this unusual generosity.

"Alright, I guess I will, then. What about Gilbird?" he asked, not wanting to leave his soul mate behind.

"Sure, the bird can come, too."

"Awesome!" Gilbert yelled out in excitement, then unexpectedly picking Lovino up into a hug.

"Okay, okay! Now put me the hell down!" Lovino shouted, blushing from embarrassment.

* * *

><p>After school ended, the two quickly went back to Gilbert's house so that he could pack some of his clothing and whatever else he needed for the few days he would be staying with the Italians. Lovino shook his head, refusing to let the albino bring his stack of adult games that were rated 18+, and his fake samurai sword. Finally leaving the house, they made their way to Lovino's warm and welcoming home.<p>

"I hope there will be lots of pasta while I'm here," Gilbert said, licking his lips.

"Obviously. But, pasta isn't the only thing we eat, there are lots of other great things, too."

"That's so fucking awesome! Let's go!" he yelled excitedly, running around the corner and onto the street the house was on.

"Geez.. He's just like a kid," Lovino said to himself, sighing as he made his way towards the house.

"Welcome home, ometto and Gilbert!" Caesar said, squeezing them both into his big strong arms.

"I made extra dishes, as a special welcome to Gilbert for staying in our home," Feliciano said, smiling.

It had only now just hit Lovino, that he would have to deal with the 3 of them together for the next few days.

_I just screwed myself over.._

Oh well. Maybe his grandfather would go wandering around the city at night like he usually did, and maybe Feliciano wouldn't follow him around so much. And maybe, just maybe, Gilbert would behave himself now that he was staying in someone else's home. Surely, he should know how to properly act when he's being offered such great hospitality. Lovino shrugged, and decided not to think so hard on the subject.

After their delicious dinner full of chattering and laughter, the 4 of them sat down in the beautiful living room to play a board game. Caesar chose Gilbert to be on his team in the game of 'Sorry' and Lovino was stuck with Feliciano. He didn't mind, though. What he did mind was the senseless and repetitive cheering the other two did whenever they started to win. By the end of the game, Lovino had hoped the two bastard's lungs would give out from their victory yell when they defeated him and Feliciano. When he finally finished rubbing it into their faces, Caesar bid them each farewell as he went out for the night.

"How the hell do you keep leveling up so fast? Cheater!" Lovino said, they were now in his bedroom playing a video game that Gilbert brought with him.

"I'm not cheating, it's called grinding. I continue to do the same things, getting lots of experience points." Gilbert explained, playing the game like a professional, "You're just doing like, 1 quest. Then you try to fight the boss and die. That's not how it works."

"Fuck, this game is too hard!" Lovino yelled, throwing the controller against the wall.

"This is your system and your controllers.. so if you break them, that's your problem." Gilbert shrugged and continued his routine.

"Well your game is in _my_ system, so if I decide to do something with it, your loss."

"You're seriously a sore loser!" Gilbert laughed, poking Lovino's angry red cheeks.

"I am not!"

"Yeah, you are."

"The bathroom is free now~!" Feliciano said, opening the door. He was only wearing a towel around his waist, and another towel sat on the top of his wet head.

Gilbert smirked at the sight and whistled in enjoyment, before getting elbowed in the stomach by Lovino.

"Idiot, go put on your pajamas and go to bed!" Lovino yelled, shooing the younger Italian away.

"You're a great big brother," Gilbert said, smiling.

"Shut up, and grab your things. It's your turn now," he said, leading the albino out into the hallway and to the luxurious bathroom. It was sparkly clean, and had lots of space. There was a big tub which looked like a Jacuzzi, and a shower next to it with a see-through door to walk into. Three people could probably fit in there, Gilbert thought to himself. Even the counters on the sink were nice, fore they were made out of granite instead of normal tile.

"Oh, give me your shirt right now. I'm about to wash the light clothing," Lovino said.

"Sure," turning around, Gilbert set his towel, toothbrush, and shampoo on the counter before pulling his shirt over his head.

Lovino instantly took notice of the thin, light marks that went diagonally across the German's back.

"What's this?" he asked. Reaching out, Lovino gently ran his fingers along the different trails of mostly faded scars. They went all the way down his back like that of a snake. There were so many, at least 6 different trails. He hadn't seen them the last time Gilbert had changed in front of him, maybe because he was trying his best not to look or because the room was dark before.

"Awesome scars, huh? The babes love it when I show them that. Told 'em they were unique birth marks of the chosen one," Gilbert said, giggling a little from the cold touch of Lovino's soft fingers.

Lovino made an expression of disapproval from Gilbert's stupid lie, before curiously asking, "Who did this to you?"

"I don't know.. the headmaster of the orphanage? It happened like 10 years ago," Gilbert laughed, trying not to bring back the feelings of despair from his childhood memories.

A deep frown instantly went across Lovino's face. He could feel his throat tighten as warm tears began to swarm into his eyes.

_How could anyone..?_

He couldn't understand how anyone could purposely inflict such cruel, inhuman damage onto the body of a small child. It was beyond barbaric, and only the devil himself would consider doing such things. Why would the very people who were supposed to take care of the unfortunate children, do harm to them? None of it made sense. It deeply angered him, how the world would let something like this happen and not do anything about it.

"Lovi..?" Gilbert said, as the Italian was now leaning against him, his face buried into the crease of the albino's pale bare back.

"Sorry, enjoy the shower," Lovino said, quickly walking off to do the laundry.

Gilbert shrugged and closed the door, getting ready to enjoy his refreshing relaxation time.

* * *

><p>After about a half hour later, Gilbert rejoined Lovino in the bedroom. Looking around, he couldn't find the comforter he had used the first time he slept over.<p>

"Well.. you said the floor wasn't comfortable, remember? So, I was thinking you should sleep with me again.. I mean, you don't want to get sick again, do you? The floor can get cold at night!" Lovino said, furiously blushing as he tried to explain his motives.

Gilbert smirked, nodding his head and jumping into the bed, "Good idea!"

Lovino climbed into the bed after him, and tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible to avoid any other embarrassing conversations. But, it seemed that Gilbert had another plan.

"You know what's fun?" he said, poking Lovino in the side.

"It better not be something retarded or perverted," Lovino warned, turning to face the smiling albino.

"It's not. It's fun when you think about scary things before going to bed!"

"…That **is** retarded," Lovino snarled, rolling his eyes, "Besides, there's nothing scary here."

"You're right. That man told me the same thing! By the way, you never told me you had other guests," Gilbert said.

"What man? And what do you mean by 'other guests'?" Lovino asked, now very confused.

"What? You mean you don't have any other guests? Then.. who was the man I talked to before I came in here?" Gilbert's eyes widened in shock.

"What the fuck are you saying? !"

"There was an old, white-haired man standing in the hallway! He didn't have teeth and his eyes were black-"

"STOP IT! Damn it! Shut up shut up shut up!" Lovino cried out, quickly pulling the blanket over his head, cowering in fear.

Gilbert let out a loud, obnoxious laugh. He'd successfully frightened the poor boy to the point where he was almost crying. If Lovino hadn't went to the bathroom before bed, he might've pissed on himself.

"Calm down, Lovi. I was just joking!" Gilbert said, pulling the blanket down so he could see Lovino's face again.

"You're.. you're a deceiving bastard!" Lovino sputtered out, still sniffling.

"Chill, it's alright. I didn't really see a ghost," Gilbert smiled, gently stroking Lovino's head.

Lovino groaned, his face red with embarrassment as the teasing German continued to mess with his hair.

"If it makes you feel any better, I used to be afraid of random crap like that when I first started living on my own," Gilbert said, breaking the short silence.

"..I don't know how you do it," Lovino finally spoke up again, "I couldn't live alone.. I don't even do much around here. Feli usually does the chores, and my grandfather pays for everything we do and use."

"You just have to learn to help out. I'm sure you can do it, after all, you helped me out greatly yesterday _and_ today."

"Well.. I guess I did," Lovino smiled in accomplishment before closing his eyes again.

He was almost asleep this time, but he was rudely interrupted once more.

"Hey, Lovi?" Gilbert said, poking Lovino in the nose.

"What now, damn it?" he answered, grouchily.

"I'm sorry for having always teased and messed with you. It wasn't awesome of me," Gilbert said, apologetically.

"Oh um.. yeah. It's no big deal."

"But, even so, you and your family have treated me with lots kindness as if none of that mattered. Why is that?" Gilbert asked, he was very confused as to how anyone could possibly be kind to him without receiving anything in return.

"I don't know… it just seemed like the right thing to do? And because we're friends."

"We're friends?" Gilbert's voice almost sounded excited like a child's again. He couldn't believe the words that were coming out of Lovino's mouth. And neither could Lovino himself.

"Yeah! I mean, we might as well be.. it seems no matter what I do, I can never get away from you. And even when I can, I somehow always end up back where I started.. damn it," Lovino tried to explain, but thought of himself as making no sense at all.

"Alright, then! You can be my _best_ friend, don't tell Antonio or Francis, though. And thanks for letting me stay here with you guys for awhile," Gilbert smiled happily to the boy lying next to him.

"Okay.. and you're welcome," Lovino quickly smiled back before pulling the blanket up to hide his red face.

Suddenly, Lovino felt a warm arm wrap around his waist.

"This again..."

"Hm? Oh, sorry. It's a habit.. and knowing someone's sleeping next to me, I subconsciously do it," Gilbert explained, removing his arm from Lovino's waist, "Luddy and I used to sleep like that back in the orphanage, it was like we were protecting each other."

Lovino thought for a second, and then reconsidered.

"I don't mind it.. if it helps you sleep better then, sure," he said, slowly wrapping his arm around Gilbert's thin waist. Lovino thought what he was doing was weird, but right now, it wasn't about him.

"Oh.. thanks, friend!" Gilbert said, cuddling closer to the Italian and quickly falling into a peaceful sleep.

_Yeah.. Because we're friends._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So the next chapter will have some friendly activities and such. Idk. It may take longer to put out than usual, still thinking of ideas. Anyways, thanks for reading this story so far and for the reviews!**


	5. A Day with the Germans

**A/N: I had a change of plans, kinda. So the next chapter will be the fun activity stuffs I was talking about.. I think. Idk. Enjoy~**

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><p>As the birds happily chirped outside on the old big tree next to his window, the morning sun shown through the glass and warmly lit his tan skin. Lazily opening his tired hazel eyes, he sat up in the bed and began to gently rub them. Glancing to his side, Lovino found that Gilbert was no longer lying there like he was last night. He thought he must have been really exhausted, if the albino had awoken before him. Slowly arising from the soft bed, he dragged himself to the hallway bathroom to start his usual morning routine.<p>

Exiting the bathroom, he finally took note of the wonderful aroma that came from downstairs. His stomach was rumbling, and he couldn't wait to chow down on whatever Feliciano had been fixing up. Hurriedly running down the stairs, his eyes met with the crimson red ones belonging to Gilbert, who was happily eating breakfast with Feliciano.

"Mornin', sleeping beauty," Gilbert said, smiling as Lovino made his way to the table.

"You two jerks were noisy as hell, it woke me up," Lovino said, taking a seat next to Gilbert and scratching his head as he revealed his usual morning grouchiness.

"I guess your sleep wasn't so beautiful?" Gilbert teased, poking Lovino in his side.

"Oh, sorry brother. I made you some breakfast!" Feliciano smiled, setting a plate of waffles in front of Lovino, "It's not the usual.. but I figured we'd have a change since Gilbert's here."

"This is alright, I guess.." Lovino shrugged and picked up a fork to dig into the soft waffles that he drowned in syrup.

"So anyways Feli, I escaped the vicious sharks and swam to the surface with the babe in my arms! I had to give her CPR for awhile, it was intense," Gilbert said, resuming the obviously false tale that he'd been talking about to the younger Italian.

"Oh my! Did she survive?" Feliciano asked, his eyes widening as he actually believed every word the German said.

"Of course, who wouldn't awaken from the touch of my awesome lips? She even gave me a little something as a reward, if you know what I mean," Gilbert smirked, beginning to make hand gestures.

"What the fuck are you telling him?" Lovino hissed, kicking the jerk under the table.

"Ow! I was just telling him one of my awesome adventures!" Gilbert frowned, rubbing his leg in pain.

"Sounds like the plot of some dirty movie."

"You _would_ know," Gilbert smirked again, poking Lovino's puffy cheeks.

"…I'll cut you!" grabbing a nearby butter knife, Lovino threatened the mischievous albino who continued to tease him.

Feliciano watched as the two older boys continually messed around with each other before finally finishing their breakfast and downing it with freshly squeezed orange juice.

"You guys get along so well!" he said, collecting their plates and gently setting them down into the sink.

"S-Shut up!" Lovino yelled, looking away as a faint blush appeared on his face.

"Ja, well.. oh crap! Don't want to be late, gotta go!" Gilbert said as he looked at the time on his phone. Quickly getting up from his seat, he waltzed over to the front door to put on his shoes.

"Wait, where the hell are you going now?" Lovino asked, quickly walking over to the entrance.

"I have to go pick up Luddy, there's a time limit on how long he can be out with me today," he answered.

"And where are you taking him? The potato farm?" Lovino snorted, shaking his head.

"You're funny. But no, we're going to visit Old Fritz."

A small gasp escaped Lovino's mouth, as he remembered Gilbert had told him that visiting the dying man was one of his many activities. He was now very intrigued, and wanted nothing more than to meet the man that Gilbert praised so much.

"Can I go with you?" he quickly asked before Gilbert exited the home.

"Um, sure. Hurry up and get dressed! And don't complain if you get bored or feel left out," Gilbert said, pushing Lovino towards the stairs.

"Alright I won't, damn.." quickly running back upstairs, Lovino threw on a random outfit and combed his messy bed hair before returning back to the front door.

"Feli, don't open the door to any strangers while we're gone!" he called out before shutting the front door and catching up with Gilbert who had started walking.

"So! Where does the bastard live?" Lovino asked, shielding his eyes from the blinding light of the sun.

"Can you at least refrain from calling my brother any names today? He sorta gets emotional whenever we make our visit.."

"Fine, I guess I'll try," Lovino rolled his eyes as they continued to walk, "You should get your driver's license.. walking is so annoying!"

"Why don't you get yours? At least you'd be able to afford a car!" Gilbert sighed loudly, walking faster as he realized this really _was_ taking longer than it needed to, and he couldn't afford to be late.

"Are we at least almost there?" Lovino asked as few minutes later.

"Ja… here we are!" Gilbert finally responded, pointing to an average sized two-story home.

"..Well? Aren't you going to knock on the door?" he asked, seeing as they were still on the sidewalk and Gilbert wouldn't move.

"So I can see their ugly faces? Hell no. Luddy said he'd keep an eye out for me, anyways."

And just as he had said, the blonde haired boy came out of the front door of the house only a few seconds later. He looked very neat and formal, as he was wearing a dress white shirt and a tie.

"What's with the fancy tie, goof?" Gilbert asked, pulling the boy into a tight hug as he approached them.

"Two hours and thirty minutes," Ludwig said, he then glanced at Lovino and stared at him in confusion.

"I know what you're thinking, 'What the hell is the sexy Italian doing here?' Well, I'm with him," Lovino said, pointing to Gilbert.

Ludwig shrugged and tried to pull away from Gilbert, who continued to squeeze him.

"Alright, alright. We'd better get going, then," Gilbert said, leading them back down the main street.

* * *

><p>Lovino walked behind the other two as they (mainly Gilbert) complained about the amount of time they were given. When they were together, one could really see how much more mature Ludwig was than Gilbert. He was rather silent, very polite, and held a perfect posture the entire time. He obediently walked along as Gilbert did things like walking backwards, stepping over the cracks in the cement, and skipping. It was almost as if the younger boy was more suited to be the older brother. He even had to pull Gilbert along as the albino stopped to pet a stray puppy. Suddenly, they stopped in front of a big building.<p>

"He lives here..?" Lovino asked, staring at the sign over the double doors that read 'City Library'.

"No, silly! We have to get a book," Gilbert laughed, patting Lovino on the back before pulling him inside.

Gazing around inside, there were surprisingly a nice amount of people there. Some were scholars and philosophers, others were young teenagers just as themselves. The building was four stories high, as it contained different means of information that could stretch far beyond the mind's imagination. This vast amount of knowledge was almost too overwhelming and distracting, as Lovino didn't notice Gilbert had been pulling him along the entire time.

"Ah, found it," Gilbert said, reaching into one of the shelves to grab a book.

"We've already read that one, so get the next volume," Ludwig said, pointing to the other side of the large shelf which probably held over 500 books.

"Oh, right."

"Why are we here again?" Lovino asked, still very confused.

"To get a book! Damn Lovi, you're slow," Gilbert loudly whispered, examining the other book. The cover was very old, and looked as if it were coming apart. But he figured it was still useable.

"I know that, idiot. I meant, why?" Lovino rolled his eyes as he followed them to the check-out counter.

"Old Fritz likes it when we read stories to him," Ludwig answered, a faint smile appearing on his face for a brief second.

"Yup! And… uh oh.. shit, I forgot my library card.." Gilbert groaned as he rummaged through his empty pockets.

"I knew you would. I brought mine along, just in case," Ludwig said, shaking his head as he handed the card to his irresponsible brother.

"Great thinking, Luddy. I was just testing you!"

"Having your little brother bail you out, so not 'awesome'," Lovino teased, exiting the huge building.

"Eh, whatever. Let's go, sidekicks. We have one last stop to make."

Walking down the busy street, they stopped once again at a small gift shop. Everything inside was frilly, pink, and sweet. Lovino almost got a toothache from just looking at the junk. He decided to just stand there as Ludwig went to pick a card and Gilbert picked up a colorful bouquet of flowers. After a few moments, they finally went to the cashier to buy the stuff.

"Oh my god! Like, hey Gilbert! I knew it was you who walked in~" said the cashier, smiling cheerfully.

"Ja.. hey, Polly. Long time no see."

"And you brought cute little Luddy with you! Let me guess, you're going to visit your old man? Hi Luddy~!" she said, waving to the younger boy.

"Hello," Ludwig replied, awkwardly waving back.

"Who's that?" she then asked, looking over to Lovino as if she'd just noticed him. She continued to stare at him as she loudly chewed the gum that was in her mouth before blowing a bubble and obnoxiously popping it.

"My friend. Listen, uhh.. we're kind of in a hurry, so if you could just.."

"Alright~! Oh these flowers are beautiful, good choice!" she said, finally ringing the items up.

"Thanks," quickly handing her the amount due, Gilbert picked up the bag and walked out.

"Come see me soon, Gilly!" she called out, flirtatiously waving goodbye.

"…Who the fuck was that?" Lovino asked as they walked to the bus stop.

"Someone that we know. She's been desperately trying to get a taste of this awesome five meters," Gilbert smirked, sounding like the biggest conceited idiot in the world, "But she talks so damn much.. annoying."

"I never thought I'd ever meet anyone more annoying than you.. she proved me wrong," Lovino snorted, for some reason he felt that he hated that girl. Especially the way she looked at Gilbert, and the way she talked to him. If he could've, he would have smashed her face into the cash register.

"I'm not annoying! I'm awesome, and some people just can't take it. Here," Gilbert said, rummaging through the bag and pulling out two big chocolate chip cookies. He handed one to each of them, "I had just enough money to get these!"

"Is this.. alright?" Ludwig asked, gazing at the delicious treat.

"Of course it is! As long as you're with me, you don't have to worry anymore," Gilbert smiled and gently rubbed the boy on his head.

"Thanks.. I never get sweets at home," he said, pulling off the wrapper and slowly biting into the soft dough, savoring every second.

"What, don't like cookies?" Gilbert asked, noticing that Lovino was only staring at the treat.

"It's a pretty big cookie.. maybe we should share it later at home," he said, blushing.

"Sure, I guess.. Ah, the bus is here!"

* * *

><p>Hurriedly climbing onto the bus, they sat down in their seats. The bus took them a long ways before they finally came to a rural area. There, they found a small gated community with a large outside area. It was very quiet, and peaceful with great scenery. Lovino guessed that the atmosphere in this place would ease the minds of the many elderly that inhabited the building. It didn't look like a hospital at all, but more like a home for the dying. Once they were inside, Lovino gazed around at all of the old people with different appearances. Some were in wheel chairs, others had walkers. A few of them even looked to be 100 years old!<p>

Turning down an empty hallway, Ludwig stopped at the entrance to a quiet room.

"It's okay, Luddy," Gilbert said, softly smiling at the younger German.

Ludwig slowly nodded, and the three of them walked into the room.

Lying on a bed against the wall in the middle of the room was the body of a frail, old man who slowly opened his eyes as he heard footsteps enter the room. He slowly turned his head to face the visitors and a faint smile began to appear on his face.

"It's so great to see you again," Ludwig said, quickly walking over to the bed and gently hugging the man.

"He can't talk anymore, but he can hear," Gilbert whispered to Lovino, he then walked over to the side of the bed and placed a chaste kiss on the man's forehead, "Glad to see you're doing well, Old Fritz."

Lovino took the bouquet of flowers and set them in a big vase that sat under the window. He watched as numerous different expressions went across Ludwig's face as the boy talked to the old man. He'd never seen the younger German this way before, it was as if he was a totally different person.

"Lovi, come here," Gilbert called out to him, signaling him to come over.

"This is my best friend, he's really awesome. He and his family have been taking care of me," Gilbert said, smiling as he wrapped an arm around Lovino's shoulder.

"..Nice to meet you," Lovino said, as the man smiled at him. For some reason, he felt wave of sadness crash into his body.

"We brought you another little book!" Ludwig said excitedly, grabbing the book from the bag and holding it out for the man to see, "Can I read it this time?"

"Sure, Luddy. It's your turn, after all," Gilbert replied, going with Lovino across the room and sitting in the two soft chairs.

"Your brother.. is so different now," Lovino whispered to Gilbert, listening as Ludwig steadily read the story.

"He's just being himself. His true self, that is. It's only when we visit Old Fritz that he's like this."

"Well, what about you? You don't seem much different.."

"Because I'm the awesome big brother. I'm not allowed to breakdown or show any signs of weakness, I have to stay strong for Luddy. You know?" Gilbert sighed, lounging back into the comfortable chair.

"Oh.." but Lovino knew that Gilbert was only faking it. He had spent enough time with the albino to know when he was putting on another façade or not. This fact, along with the melancholic atmosphere in the room, made Lovino feel helpless. He knew that no matter what he said right now, he wouldn't be able to bring a real smile to Gilbert's face. He wished that the withering man lying in the bed wasn't dying, then Gilbert could have his happiness back. It angered him greatly that he could not do anything about it.

_They don't deserve this.._

After a long while, Gilbert got up from the chair and walked back over to the middle of the room.

"It's time to go, Luddy."

"What? No," he instantly replied, frowning at Gilbert.

"We have to get you back home, time's almost up.. C'mon, don't make this hard again."

"But I don't want to go back yet! I hate it there, I hate everything.. that's not my real home!" he yelled, clinging to the side of the bed.

"I know, I know.. but, we can always come back here to visit again. If I bring you back there late, they may never let me take you out again.." Gilbert sighed, scratching his head as he was unable to convince the boy.

Just then, Old Fritz weakly lifted a hand and rested it upon Ludwig's. He gently rubbed the boy's hand and nodded, trying to tell him that everything would be okay. Lovino stood by and watched as they finally said their goodbyes once Ludwig calmed down and returned to his usual, almost emotionless self. Even he began to feel emotionally drained, even though he hadn't known the old man for much longer than an hour.

After the silent bus ride back into the main part of the city, they walked together to drop Ludwig back off to his foster home. Gilbert tightly held onto the younger boy's hand the entire time, occasionally softly whispering some words to him in German that Lovino could not understand. He'd guessed it was probably to comfort him, as his eyes were empty again and his expression dull.

* * *

><p>"See you later, Luddy. And remember what I said," Gilbert smiled, then hugged the boy before he walked off and went into the house.<p>

Lovino and Gilbert slowly made their way back to the Italian's home, hardly talking on the way there. It was still midday, and there was plenty of time to do whatever they wanted.

"So, what should we do for the rest of the day? And don't suggest video games," Lovino said, he was still a little angry about the fact that no matter what game they played, Gilbert would beat him at it. Even when he seriously tried to win, he would lose. He supposed Gilbert really _was_ awesome at something.

Although he had said that, he received no response from the albino. Glancing over at him, he saw that he must've been thinking hard about something. His facial expression was very serious, and he was intensely staring at the ground as they continued to walk onwards.

"Gilbert? What are you thinking about?" he asked, standing in front of the German so that he would stop walking and snap back into reality.

"Oh.. You know something, Lovi? Everyday.. everyday in life is precious," he began, the tone of his voice sending shivers down Lovino's spine, "Every second of it.. yet, everyone fails to spend their time wisely.. even me."

Staring at the person in front of him, Lovino could see the deep sadness within those profound red eyes. Now that Ludwig wasn't around at the moment, Gilbert felt that he didn't need to be the strong older brother and completely let his true emotions swarm out into the open. Usually after each visit, he'd hold it in until he got home, then he'd listen to depressing music for hours. But today, for some reason, he didn't mind letting Lovino see him like this.

Lovino let out a loud sigh before grabbing Gilbert by the hand and dragging him down the street.

"What is this..?" Gilbert stared at a huge menu filled with different types of ice cream flavors, sundaes, shakes, fruit smoothies, and anything the sweet tooth would absolutely adore.

"It's an ice cream shop, duh!"

"But why?" he asked again, turning to face the Italian.

"Because, damn it! Your sad face is depressing as hell.. now it's my treat, so pick whatever you want," Lovino said, blushing as he looked for what he would choose for himself.

"Whatever I want? So.. I can have that one?" Gilbert quickly pointed to a picture of the big German Chocolate ice cream scoop on a cone. Lovino thought he looked like an excited child in a toy store, he had to admit that it was extremely cute.

"Yeah, sure. It looks good.. I'll get that, too."

After receiving their cold treats, they once again walked back outside along the sidewalk. Gilbert rapidly licked his ice cream, humming a random tune and smiling happily the entire time.

"You really like ice cream, huh?" Lovino asked, staring at the German as he continued to eat.

"Yup! It's been forever since I've had any."

"Well, I'm just glad that expression is gone from your face now.. it was disturbing."

"Sorry about that.. I guess I just feel like I can be however when I'm around you," Gilbert said, as he began to chew on the cone.

"So, if you've never spoken to anyone else about your problems before I came along, what'd you do to feel better?" Lovino curiously asked.

"Hmm.. I'll show you!" suddenly grabbing Lovino's hand, he led him to the nearby pond where people often went on picnics and flew kites.

"This place?" he said, watching as Gilbert kneeled down beside the sparkling water and lightly dipped his fingers in it.

"This place is so awesome. It's always peaceful, and I like staring into the water," Gilbert said, smiling to himself.

"Well it is pretty peaceful here. I actually came here many times with Feli and my grandfather when we were little," Lovino said, kneeling down next to Gilbert and staring into the water as well. It was quite hypnotizing, and it made one forget any negative feelings they might've felt at that moment.

"Look, ducks!" Gilbert exclaimed, pointing to a nearby mother duck and her ducklings that swam across the pond.

"I guess they're pretty cute."

"Have you ever wished that you were one of those ducklings?" Gilbert suddenly asked, picking up a nearby rock and skipping it across the water.

"Why would I do that? I like being a human.." he responded, looking confused towards the albino.

"But I mean, they stick together. The mother duck protects her babies and leads the way. She doesn't just abandon them for someone else to take care of.."

Lovino immediately knew that Gilbert was referring to himself and his mother.

"I guess so.. Mothers are strong figures in their children's lives. I don't really remember what mine was like, but I remember her scent.. and her soft voice," Lovino said, smiling as he thought of those faint memories.

"Sometimes I wish I had your life."

"You do..?" Lovino was shocked, he had never thought anyone could possibly desire to be like him.

"I do.. but don't tell anyone that, it'll ruin my awesome reputation of being awesome as the awesome me."

"..That didn't make any damn sense," Lovino laughed, splashing a bit of the pond water at Gilbert.

"Hey! Not awesome," Gilbert frowned, standing up as he shook the water drops from his head.

"Come on, sir 'awesome', let's go home now. We have a busy day tomorrow," he said, walking towards home once again.

"We do?" Gilbert asked, catching up to the fast Italian.

"Remember? The field trip!"

"I told you I'm not going to that, I'm saving money.."

"Too late now, we've already paid for you to go. So your ass is going whether you want to or not," Lovino said, revealing the secret plans he'd made with his grandfather.

"What..? You conniving little devil!" Gilbert yelled, as he playfully chased the Italian back home.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was actually looking forward to getting out of town. Even if it was just to a fancy art museum, Gilbert hadn't gone anywhere in years. All evening long he talked about it, even as he watched Lovino make the lunches they would take with them that day. Lying in bed, he talked about it some more, as the excitement kept him from sleeping.

"Shut.. up.. I get it, you're excited! But we'll miss the bus to the damn place if we wake up late because of your talking!" Lovino grouchily yelled, puffing his cheeks as he tried to fall asleep.

"Alright, alright. Goodnight… princess."

Lovino was just about to rage kick the bastard out of bed, but Gilbert's usual arm wrapped around his waist and pulled their bodies closely together. Every time he felt this irresistible warmth, he lost all anger and found it hard to stay awake. Giving up, he nuzzled into Gilbert's warm chest and closed his eyes.

_I'll let it slide.. just this once._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm sooooo tired.. I don't even know what I wrote half the time. ;_; I sowwy. I think I may take just a lil break, if I can. Well actually no. I'll just slow down a bit, need a steady pace to go at. **


	6. Trouble Makers

**A/N: I was gonna take a lil longer break/slow down but I couldn't help but type this! I'm... obsessed. Damn it. Hope you enjoy this chapter~**

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><p>The hands on the clock that rested on the classroom wall seemed to be moving in slow motion. Gilbert fidgeted around in his seat as he stared intensely at the turtle-like hands, wishing they'd go just a bit faster. It wasn't hard to see that he was very excited about the little trip, especially since he wouldn't have to sit in class all day. And why shouldn't he be? It was basically free anyways, thanks to the courtesy of his little Italian best friend. If he was given the chance to choose where they'd be going, he would've definitely chose a rock concert. But, a peaceful trip to a famous art museum away from the city was alright, too.<p>

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

This staring contest with the clock was getting intense! Even so, that didn't make the time go any faster.

"Tino?" the teacher called out, taking attendance.

"Here!"

"Everyone's here! So can we go now?" Gilbert blurted out, as everyone began to stare at the frantic German who was almost standing up in his seat.

"Calm down, Gilbert. The bell will ring in any second now and we'll be able to board the buses. Now everyone quiet down as I finish taking attendance."

Gilbert sighed as he slouched down into the seat and crossed his arms. Why should it matter if everyone else was here or not? As long as his awesome presence was there, nothing else mattered.

"You're so noisy.." Lovino said, yawning as he rested his tired head on his desk.

"Don't try and hide it, you know you're excited too!" Gilbert loudly whispered, leaning over his desk and poking Lovino in the back.

"Yeah, but it's fucking early in the morning and we stayed up late because of your loud mouth," Lovino hissed, resisting the urge to break Gilbert's fingers.

At last, the holy bell rang and Gilbert shot up from his seat, grabbing Lovino by the hand as he waltzed out of the classroom and outside to the charter buses.

"..If you're going to be like this.. all damn day.. please, shoot me now," Lovino groaned, obviously already irritated by Gilbert's everlasting excitement.

"You're seriously not a morning person!" patting him on the back, Gilbert smirked as the doors to the buses began to open.

Because they had run off without the rest of the class, the teacher made them board the bus last. Gilbert frowned as he saw the seats in the back of the vehicle were taken. Lovino only shrugged and sat down in one of the upper middle rows.

"Hey, Gil! Come sit back here," Antonio called out from the back of the bus, waving to the German as he was about to sit down.

It would've been great to sit in the back and be as noisy as you wanted, but he decided to pass.

"Nah it's cool, I'll just sit here with Lovi."

"Seriously? You're so hopeless! Everything is all about Lovi now, to you. Do you even like us anymore?" Francis pouted, taking a seat next to Antonio.

"Of course I do! I just, uhh.."

"You can go sit back there with the idiots, if you want," Lovino said, pretending as if he didn't care if Gilbert sat next to him or not. It's totally not like he felt possessive over the albino since he'd been with him almost every minute for the past few days that he'd been staying in the Italian's home. And it's not like he was clingy or wore a frown whenever Gilbert hung around people other than himself. Nope, it wasn't like that at all. It truly wasn't!

"Nah, I wanted to sit with you anyways," Gilbert said, taking the seat next to Lovino.

"You sure?" Lovino asked, but he felt a gleam of delight glowing inside of his chest.

"Ja, you're my awesome best friend, remember? But, you know what'd make you even more awesome?"

"What?"

"If you let me sit next to the window!" he said, pointing to the big window that Lovino was hogging.

"Fine, whatever," Lovino shook his head as they switched spots.

Gilbert acted just like an innocent child during the entire bus ride. He excitedly stared out of the window with a huge grin on his face, pointing at every other thing they drove by. He had never been out of town before, and this seemed to have been the moment of a lifetime.

"Lovi, look. That's a huge ass mountain!" he said, gasping at a distant mountain that shined beautifully in the early morning sun.

"Yeah, I see it.. for the hundredth time," Lovino replied, rolling his eyes as he was trying to take a nap.

"And did you see the cows earlier? That was awesome!" Gilbert smiled, gently shaking Lovino's shoulder to make the boy pay attention to what he was saying.

"Yes, damn it.."

"Oh hey, look at that! A cloud shaped like wurst!"

"…I have an idea! How about, you close your eyes. Keep them closed and don't talk, for a very long time. I'll do the same," Lovino suggested, as he was now very irritated from all the talking.

"But.. then I won't be able to see the things outside," Gilbert frowned, pointing to the beautiful scenery.

"We'll be seeing cool things all day at the museum, so take a nap!"

"Naps are for the old and the weak.. but fine, granny," Gilbert snorted, he then relaxed in the seat and rested his head on Lovino's shoulder.

Sighing with relief, Lovino didn't mind the previous comment and closed his tired eyes as the bus rode on.

* * *

><p>After about an hour, the bus finally arrived at the museum and came to a slow stop in the parking lot. The halting of the relaxing movement caused Lovino to wake up from his peaceful slumber, as he rubbed his eyes and stared at the teacher who was giving them instructions. He was still sort of asleep, so he wasn't sure what the man was saying, but soon everyone began to stand up and walk towards the exit.<p>

Noticing a feeling of warmness, he looked down to find that Gilbert's sleeping head was now in his lap. Oddly, it was kind of cute. It made Lovino not want to wake him up, but they'd be left behind if he hadn't. Moving his hand, he laid it upon the fuzzy white hair on Gilbert's head, letting the silky strands glide through his fingers. Surprisingly, it was soft, even though he probably didn't take care of it much.

"Wake up, idiot.. we're here."

Gilbert's eyes immediately shot open, as he quickly sat up and gazed around.

"Finally! Go go go!" Gilbert yelled excitedly, almost shoving Lovino as they made their way off of the bus.

Forming many small groups, the students entered the enormous building and split into different sections. Lovino almost went hysterical when his group got to visit the Italian Renaissance first. He felt even more proud to be Italian than he ever had before, watching the other students gaze at the beautiful paintings and sculptures. It was as if they were complimenting him instead of the master pieces!

"This is one of my favorites. Maybe because it's one of the most popular master pieces of his work," Lovino said, pointing to the beautiful portrait of _Mona Lisa_. Even the frame around it was beautiful, and it stood on a wall by itself.

"Eh. I guess she's kinda cute. I'd say.. 6 out of 10," Gilbert said, as he yawned and walked on.

"..Are you seriously rating this master piece with your damn perverted mind? !" Lovino quietly yelled, as there were no loud noises allowed inside.

"Hey, I said she was cute. That's good enough."

"Do you even _know_ who Leonardo Da Vinci is?" he asked, catching up to the ignorant albino and softly whacking him on the head.

"Pfft. Of course I do!" Gilbert said, rubbing his head.

"Okay, then who is he?"

"He's your uncle, right?"

"…" Lovino shot an evil glare at the seemingly clueless German, trying to resist the urge he had of kicking him in the vital regions.

"I'm just joking, damn. You seriously think I'm an idiot, don't you?" Gilbert frowned, then reached out to touch an odd looking art piece.

"Maybe if you didn't act like an idiot, I wouldn't think you were one. And don't touch anything! These are worth more than your life!" Lovino scolded, slapping Gilbert's hand away before he could ruin anything and end up in jail.

"I highly doubt that. I mean, my awesomeness is priceless. Whatever," Gilbert shrugged, and nonchalantly rubbed Lovino's head before continuing on.

After a few moments, they came across a room filled with many different Greek sculptures. Lovino, once again, had to stop Gilbert from trying to touch them. He was completely like a child in a grocery store, trying to touch anything he could reach. The group listened as the guide gave a brief summary on some of the sculptures and their history. Before they continued on, Gilbert grabbed Lovino by the shoulder.

"Lovi, look," he said, pointing to an odd sculpture of a naked man with rather 'small' vital regions. "That's Francis."

Almost immediately, Lovino began to burst out with laughter. He had to cover his mouth to avoid sounding obnoxious and gaining attention.

"And this is you," Gilbert smirked, pointing to a statue of a very short androgynous figure.

"..Screw you. At least I'm not getting my ass kicked like you," Lovino said, pointing to a nearby portrait of man being brutally executed.

"Good one, good one.." Gilbert smiled, looking for another bizarre object to tease Lovino about.

Minutes went by as they continued to tease each other, but Lovino eventually gave up when Gilbert said he looked like the statue of a bodiless donkey's head. Suddenly, a gorgeous female statue in a sealed off section caught Gilbert's eye.

"Hey, take a picture of me!" he said, climbing over the ropes that blocked it off from the rest of the artworks.

"Don't go in there, stupid! It's obviously off-limits," Lovino warned, standing by the sign that read 'Do Not Touch'.

"Just take the damn picture," Gilbert sighed, standing to the side of the statue and posing as if he was thrusting against it.

"…You're fucking sick," Lovino silently giggled as he took out his phone and snapped a few photos.

"Now your turn!" reaching out, Gilbert grabbed Lovino's wrist and pulled him over the ropes.

"Fine, but hurry up! We can get in serious trouble," Lovino said, quickly glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention to them.

"Your pose isn't even nearly as awesome as mine," Gilbert frowned, disapproving of Lovino's simple peace sign, he took the picture.

"At least I'm not pretending to dry hump a statue!" he yelled, blushing as he climbed back over the ropes.

"Ja, and it was awesome."

"You wish-" just then, Lovino noticed he did not recognize any of the people around them. "Shit.."

"What? Realize I was right?"

"No, dumb ass.. we lost the fucking group!" he shouted as he frantically looked around corners.

"Chill, we just have to find them!" Gilbert smiled, leading the way to the second floor.

They searched the architectural rooms upstairs, then the tribal areas.

"Not here.." Gilbert shrugged and continued on.

Going to the third floor, they checked the many different rooms of paintings, sculptures, models, and ancient crafts from different countries all over the world. Even so, they could not find their group or their classmates. This caused Lovino to begin panicking.

"…They're not anywhere! And now we're lost! It's all your fault, damn it!" he shouted, as his eyes began to water. They weren't exactly 'lost' but Lovino had a great fear of not knowing where 'safety' was, or figures of authority.

"We're not lost, there are signs everywhere!" Gilbert said, pointing to all the different exits. "Let's go outside, okay? They're gonna be there sooner or later for lunch. We can eat ours first and wait for them there."

"You're still a bastard.." Lovino mumbled, wiping his few tears away.

"Sure, sure."

* * *

><p>Outside, the bright sun warmed their skins and lit their moods. They found a random spot on the grass and began to eat the lunches Lovino had packed for them the night before. He forgot all about being worried as Gilbert said stupid things and made silly jokes as they ate. Sitting, they talked about all of the odd and beautiful things they had seen that day. Somehow, they got on the topic of doing flips.<p>

"I can too do a cartwheel!" Gilbert said, getting up and stretching his arms.

"If you break your neck trying, don't expect me to give a speech at your funeral!" Lovino yelled, as Gilbert suddenly did a perfect cartwheel like a gymnast.

"..Well, I bet you can't do a backflip!"

"Are you kidding? Of course I can!" he said, then amazingly performing the trick.

"Oops, I meant a double backflip!" Lovino said, smiling mischievously as he saw the beautiful water fountain behind Gilbert.

"Watch and be amazed, my little Italian!" and just as Lovino had planned, the German did the first flip and fell backwards into the fountain during the second one.

Lovino laughed loudly, to the point where he was crying. He knew what he did was very wrong, but it was hilarious and he felt like having a little laugh. Only this laugh turned out to be a big one. He decided to at least make sure Gilbert was alright before going back to laughing hysterically, so he walked over to the fountain as the albino got up and shook his wet head like a dog.

"I'm alright! Stupid fountain.. I planned for that to happen! It was too hot, anyway. At least my pants are barely wet.." Gilbert frowned, as he grabbed the bottom corner of his shirt and squeezed it, before climbing out of the fountain.

"Yeah, sure you did! And you'd better dry.. off.." Lovino said, his voice trailing off as he stared at Gilbert's soaked upper body.

He watched as a drop of water slowly trickled down the albino's pale slender neck, and disappearing into the top of his wet shirt. Looking at the shirt now, Lovino observed at how it stuck tightly to his thin body and outlined his chest and abs. Gilbert then took his hand and slicked his wet hair back from his forehead, almost looking as if it was in slow motion.

"Damn.." the word escaped from Lovino's lips, as his eyes were steadily glued to the sight before him.

"What?"

"Uhhh.. cover yourself or you'll get sick or something!" Lovino shouted, deeply blushing as he grabbed his jacket and threw it at Gilbert.

"Oh, thanks!" Gilbert smiled, throwing the jacket over his shoulders, as it would be too tight if he tried to put it on properly.

_What the fuck am I thinking.._

Lovino shook his head as he tried to get the images and weird thoughts out of his mind. He thought he must have been very tired, as his chest was feeling tight and the lower regions of his body felt really weird all of a sudden.

Suddenly, the many students from their class arrived outside. Lovino was very relieved to see them, that is, until their teacher scolded them for going off on their own. It was revealed that they had been looking for the two trouble makers for awhile now, and even thought something drastic may have happened to them. The teacher especially frowned when he found that Gilbert was almost completely wet and that they had been messing around with the fountain, which turned out to be another piece of art work that shouldn't have been touched.

* * *

><p>The next day, Lovino sat in the quiet classroom, intensely staring at the clock just as Gilbert had done the day before. Although, he wasn't excited. No, he was very angry and feeling lots of regret. He wanted to sit there in peace, but that certain someone wouldn't let that happen. And of course, that someone was Gilbert. Why did the teacher have to step out of the room for a long ass time and leave them two there, alone?<p>

"Loviiiii~" Gilbert moaned, poking Lovino in his back with a pencil.

"I told you, fuck off! It's your fault I have detention.." Lovino growled, wishing that he could be at home right now, eating a tomato and reading one of his novels.

"Hey, we're both at fault here. It's not like I'm the one that said 'let's goof around and lose the group' or something!" Gilbert said, continuing the poking.

"I didn't say that either! Damn it.. now I'm stuck in here with you for another 15 minutes."

"Chill, you know it was fun," Gilbert said, getting up from his seat and sitting on the desk Lovino was at.

"No it wasn't, and get your ass off my desk," he groaned, lazily trying to shove him off.

"Nein. Admit it was fun," lifting his hand, Gilbert gently played with Lovino's bangs.

"Okay, it was fun! Now stop being weird," he blushed, swatting the hand away.

Gilbert chuckled and took a seat in the chair at the desk next to Lovino's.

"I bet that was the first time you've ever done something you weren't supposed to."

"No it wasn't! I've done.. things," Lovino said, crossing his arms as he quickly tried to think of a time that he'd disobeyed the rules. The only reason he never bothered to do bad things was because.. it was bothersome. Anything that took extra effort without completely positive benefits was a waste of his time.

"Alright, name one time," but when Lovino sat there in a train of thought for a while, he added, "See! You really need to get out more. There are lots of fun things I've done, and that you should do with me next time."

"What kind of 'fun things' are you talking about?" Lovino asked, for he knew that his idea of fun was much too different from the German's.

"Awesome fun things! Like partying, hanging out at the best spots in town, some secret things I know about.. there are lots of things you can do. You're not a true teenager unless you can do at least one of them, though." Gilbert said, counting more things on his fingers.

"You don't have to tell me that! I know how to have fun.."

"Then, I know something really fun. There's a party tonight, a big one. All the most popular people are going to be there, mainly people from different schools and whatnot."

"Someone actually invited _you_ to a party?" Lovino asked, as his eyes widened from the surprise.

"Well.. no. I heard about it from Francis, and I decided that I'm going to crash the party! After all, the best parties are the ones that you're not invited to!" Gilbert replied, his usual mischievous smirk appearing on his face again.

"Why am I not surprised.."

"So! You in?" he then asked, repeatedly poking Lovino's arm.

"Cut it out.. and I don't think so. It's a school night, so I'm not going to ask my grandfather if I can go to some party."

"Who said you have to ask? Oh well, never mind. I mean, since you don't like having fun and all," Gilbert shrugged, before going back to his seat.

"…Fine! I'll go, but only because I need to make sure you don't get into a fight or something stupid!" Lovino yelled, giving into temptation.

"Awesome, we'll sneak out tonight."

* * *

><p>In actuality, there was no need to sneak out. As usual, Caesar was out getting drunk with a handful of young women. The two naughty older boys made sure Feliciano was asleep before they stealthily exited the home and made their way to the house in which the party was being held.<p>

"This better not have been a birthday party for a 10 year old," Lovino said, still unable to believe what Gilbert had promised.

"No way! It's way too late for that.. and hey, this is the place!"

Finally arriving, Lovino found that it was far from some children's party, or even a party for teenagers. Many people entered and exited the front door of the lone house and some of them sat outside on the grass, laughing and talking. He was surprised to see that many of them were most likely in their early 20s! What the hell are they doing here? He would've asked, but he figured Gilbert had no clue, either.

Inside, it was far worse. The music was blasting loudly, people crowded every corner, and he couldn't recognize a face in the room.

"Who the hell are all these people?" he yelled to Gilbert, hoping that he was loud enough for the albino to hear him.

"I don't know, some are from school, others are from around town!" Gilbert yelled back, then waved to someone he knew.

Lovino watched as Gilbert was dragged off to a group of people he was supposedly acquainted with. He decided not to go over to them, though. It would be awkward to be the only one that no one knew, and because they all looked like bastards. Instead, he just decided to walk into what seemed to be the living room, and sat on the couch.

_This is weird.._

As he sat there, he gazed at all of the people who were laughing and talking. Some were jokingly fighting and others were chewing on whatever food they found lying about. Although the music was still blasting, no one was really dancing. They just simply crowded the place with their obnoxiousness and paid no mind to everything around them.

Suddenly, a random older looking guy took a seat next to him on the couch and stared at him for a few seconds.

"What..?" Lovino said, giving the guy an evil glare.

"You look pretty young, how old are you?" the stranger said, tilting his head as he continued to stare up and down Lovino's body.

"None of your damn business."

"Oh, you're cute. But I've had cuter. See that girl over there?" he said, pointing to a random girl in a miniskirt. "Yeah, I did her."

"…Okay? I didn't fucking ask?" Lovino rolled his eyes as he was ready to get up and find somewhere else to be alone.

"Want one?" he asked, holding out a pack of cigarettes to Lovino.

"No, that shit kills."

"True, but you can still die just as easily from being run over by a bus or drowning or something," he said, putting one of the cigarettes in his mouth and lighting it.

"Dumb ass, those things can be prevented. Like, looking both ways before crossing the street maybe? And learning how to properly swim?" Lovino sighed as he was getting irritated from listening to the idiot blabber on, "And, at least you won't suffer and die from lung cancer."

"Whatever floats your boat, cutie," the guy smiled and blew a puff of smoke towards Lovino.

"Fuck you," Lovino said, then quickly got up from the couch.

_All of these people are idiots. Now where's the bathroom.._

Walking around the crowded place, Lovino opened up random doors in search of his destination. He desperately had to take a piss and it was difficult to walk through all of the people that took no notice every time he asked them to move. Finally, he came across two doors upstairs that were across from each other. He shrugged and decided to open the one on the right. Opening the door, his face turned completely red when he saw two people about to get 'busy'.

"What the fuck?" one of them said, as Lovino quickly slammed the door shut again. He was at least a little relieved that they weren't naked yet.

_I can't take this place any longer!_

After he exited the bathroom, he quickly went back downstairs to find Gilbert. He asked one of the guys he remembered was in their circle of bastards, but he only said he didn't know and offered Lovino a can of beer. After refusing, he finally found Gilbert sitting with another group of bastard's on the previous couch.

"Gilbert. Take me home, now," he sternly said, grabbing the German from the seat and pulling him to the side.

"What? But we only just got here not even 30 minutes ago!"

"I don't care! There are weird people everywhere, and there's alcohol at this party. We'll get in trouble too if the cops come by here!"

Gilbert could tell Lovino wouldn't give up his nagging, and they definitely would be in a jam if someone were to find out about the things going on in the home, so he decided to agree and walked out after waving goodbye to the few people he knew.

"Ugh! This was stupid. You're stupid. They're all stupid!" Lovino began to rant, as they began walking down the street.

"I'm not stupid! And leaving so early like this, not awesome."

"If what they're doing in there is awesome, then I don't want to be awesome!" he yelled, balling his hands into fists.

Just then, a random voice called out to them from the street.

"Hey you two just left the party huh? Wanna go for a ride?" the guy asked, sitting in the driver's seat. There was a girl in the passenger's seat and another one in the back.

"Hm, maybe," Gilbert said, as he began to walk towards the car.

"Wait! You know those people?" Lovino asked, grabbing onto Gilbert's sleeve.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that guy goes to our school or something.. and I've seen that girl around town. And the other girl.. well, she's just hot." Gilbert smirked, waving to the girls who only laughed.

"..Don't just go with people you don't know! They're all _obviously_ drunk, too!" Lovino said, and it was true.

"You coming or what?" the guy asked again.

"Gilbert, don't.." Lovino said again, a very worried look appearing in his eyes.

Gilbert sighed and decided to pass the offer, as he saw the expression on Lovino's worried face.

"Nah, we'll walk."

"Whatever, losers!" the guy laughed as he sped off down the street.

"I can't believe you were about to get into a car with a bunch of drunk bastards," Lovino frowned, hurriedly walking ahead now.

"No I wasn't, I only said _maybe_."

"You should've said **no**, stupid bastard!"

"I don't get you. First you say you'll come to the party, and then you want to leave so suddenly, and now you're bitching at me!" Gilbert yelled irritably, he just couldn't understand Lovino's thoughts at all.

"I'm not bitching, fucker! I'm simply smart enough to know when some things just shouldn't be done. Unlike you!"

"Whatever, I don't even care anymore."

"I don't care either, son of a bitch.."

* * *

><p>That night, Lovino forced Gilbert to cuddle with a pillow, as he refused to let the bastard touch him. He slept closely towards the wall to avoid any urges he had to grasp that warmth. He knew he wouldn't be able to stay angry if any part of Gilbert's warm body or scent got to him. Eventually, he was able to fall asleep without it.<p>

The next day at school, they had an unscheduled assembly. Lovino made sure to take his time getting in line to walk to the cafeteria where it was being held, that way he wouldn't have to stand next to Gilbert. He wasn't still angry, but he wasn't ready to forgive the German, either. Although, Gilbert did make an attempt to speak with him once that morning before school. He wanted Gilbert to _beg _for forgiveness, and to tell him how much he missed talking to him. Thinking about that, he supposed he _did _read too many romance novels.

"It brings me an unimaginable amount of sorrow to have to announce," the principal began, as Lovino finally started to pay attention and avert his mind from Gilbert, "that a student of our school passed away last night."

Many gasps and small chatter filled the room in that brief silence, then a picture of the unfortunate student appeared on the projector screen.

_No fucking way…_

The picture was of the guy that had offered them a ride the night before. Lovino immediately turned to look at Gilbert, who instantly returned his gaze. The principal went on to talk about the incident which was then followed by a moment of silence for the poor soul.

The rest of the day, Lovino felt like shit. In fact, he felt worse than shit. Guilt and grief clouded over his body and he didn't bother to concentrate on the last couple of classes that day. He and Gilbert slowly but silently walked home after school, not uttering even one word. Lovino couldn't tell how Gilbert felt about the incident, but he didn't really care. He just wanted to forget everything.

"So, how was school today?" Caesar asked, as the four of them were sitting at the table eating dinner.

"Oh Grandpa Caesar! It was so sad! We had an assembly and the principal said someone in our school died!" Feliciano exclaimed, flailing his arms around.

"Seriously? !"

"Yeah! It was some older guy. He had a car accident last night and didn't make it! There were two people with him, too.. one died in the hospital and another one might be paralyzed! They don't know for sure yet.." Feliciano explained, wiping away the small tears from his eyes.

"The poor young soul.. he's in a better place now, I hope.. did you two know 'em?" Caesar asked, looking towards Lovino and Gilbert as he hugged Feliciano.

"Well.. no.." Gilbert hesitantly answered. It was true that he didn't know the guy, but he still felt like it was partially his fault for some reason.

"Thanks for the dinner," Lovino suddenly said, getting up from his chair and retreating to his room.

Awkwardly lying in bed, Gilbert stared at the ceiling. It was still earlier than his usual sleeping time, but he felt there was no reason staying up if he'd only continue to think about what had happened. He hoped that Lovino would talk to him, but the distressed Italian hadn't said a word since he'd left the table earlier that evening. Not caring about whatever response he'd get, Gilbert decided to speak first.

"Lovi? You awake?" he asked, turning to face Lovino, who was still facing the wall.

After a few seconds, Lovino slightly nodded.

"Well.. I'm sorry for making you come to that party.." he began to apologize, but just then he heard rough sniffling sounds coming from the boy next to him. "Are you.. crying?"

"I.. can't fucking get it out of my head!" Lovino blurted, turning over to face Gilbert and revealing his tear-stained face.

"But, why? You didn't even know them.."

"Two people **died**, Gilbert! People just like us! Even though they were stupid.. they were still human!" he yelled through his many tears.

Gilbert lacked the words of what to say next, as he listened to Lovino's continuous sobbing.

"..And.. and to think you almost got in the car with them.. what would I have done if you died? What about Ludwig? !" Lovino continued to cry as he weakly pounded his fist on Gilbert's chest. "I fear for you, bastard.. you need to think about these things and the people around you!"

Gilbert quickly wrapped his arms around Lovino and pulled him into a tight hug, stroking the Italian's soft hair.

"I'm sorry.. alright? I know that I'm an idiot sometimes.. and I'm feeling just as horrible about this as you are. I mean.. knowing they were drunk, I should've stopped them. I can't help thinking it's my fault, and that they'd all be alright if I had actually _done_ something for once..."

"It's.. not your fault! It's no one's fault. That's just how the world works, there are consequences for our actions," Lovino said, once he'd calmed down a little. Using a hand, he gently wiped away a tear that appeared on the corner of Gilbert's eye.

"You mean, you don't blame me..?" Gilbert asked in disbelief.

"Of course not, idiot.. I didn't stop them, either. It was all in fate's hands after that. There's nothing we can do now.. but, move on."

"Lovino, I'm glad you're so level-headed. It counters my idiocy.." Gilbert said, faintly smiling as he slowly closed his eyes with less worry.

"W-Well I'm glad that.. you're my brave best friend.. and stop calling yourself an idiot, only I can call you that!" Lovino blushed, thumping Gilbert's forehead.

"Fine, fine.. can we sleep like this again?" Gilbert asked, as their arms were still wrapped around each other's bodies.

"Yes, damn it.." he answered, and they quickly fell asleep.

* * *

><p>All was sort of back to normal, as they talked to each other in class the next day. There was still a melancholic atmosphere around the school, but they pulled through together. Well, until Gilbert decided to finally leave their house that afternoon after school.<p>

Lovino sat on his bed as he watched Gilbert pack his clothing and other items he'd brought with him. He gently petted Gilbird on the head and returned him to his cage.

"..If this is about yesterday, you know you don't have to leave," Lovino suddenly said, looking down in embarrassment. He obviously wanted Gilbert to stay for at least just a while longer. In fact, he had completely forgotten that the German didn't even live there, he was just visiting. Lovino should've felt relieved that he now no longer had to babysit the guy, but he felt the opposite now.

"It's not. I just know if I stay any longer, I might not ever be able to bring myself to leave," Gilbert said, smiling as he picked up his things.

"Whatever. Just.. don't forget to properly take care of yourself, alright?" he said, trying to hold back a sudden swelling in his throat.

"Alright, alright. I'll remember that, mom~" Gilbert teased, before returning downstairs to bid farewell to Caesar and Feliciano.

"Please come again soon, Gilly!" Feliciano said, tightly hugging the German as he stood by the front door.

"Yeah, visit any time you like! Remember, mi casa es su casa!" Caesar exclaimed, getting his turn to tightly hug Gilbert goodbye.

"I will! And thanks for the awesome hospitality these past few days!" Gilbert smiled brightly as he exited the warm home he'd come to love from the bottom of his heart. Surely, it wouldn't be the last time he would visit, so there was no reason to feel sad! Or so he told himself.

Walking to the sidewalk, he glanced back one last time at the 2nd floor window of Lovino's room. Just as he'd hoped, Lovino was looking down at him. Smirking, he blew a kiss and waved goodbye before skipping off.

Lovino sighed as he watched the albino disappear from sight. When he turned around, he noticed something different on his desk. Picking it up, he discovered that it was a picture of Gilbert that Feliciano had taken a few days ago, on the first night the guy had stayed with them. On the back, small words were written that read 'Awesome thanks, from your awesome best friend'.

"Stupid bastard.." Lovino mumbled, tightly clutching the picture. He decided to put it in a special frame, and sat it on his desk next to the picture of Feliciano and himself.

That night, he had much more room in the bed for himself. He could stretch out and sleep however he wanted to. But, that wasn't what he wanted. He had gotten too used to the warm body next to him that belonged to Gilbert. That spot felt so cold now, it made him uncomfortable. He tossed and turned but nothing seemed to work, so he grabbed his tomato pillow and headed for Feliciano's room.

_I hate this.._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yes, Lovino did start to get aroused when he saw Gilbert's wet body. No, I don't know what's wrong with me. Ah well, I plan to fix any mistakes later as usual, gonna get some rest now. Hope you enjoyed this chap!**


	7. Jealousy in Me

**A/N: Hope you enjoy this chapter, as I will continue to think of more ideas~!**

* * *

><p>Lovino steadily watched as Gilbert messed around with a few other classmates. It had been 2 months since Gilbert went back to living in his own home, and it seemed to Lovino as if they were drifting apart. Sometimes the German would annoy him as usual, but it wasn't the same as before. Lovino felt like he was sharing something that technically didn't even belong to him. Still, the least the bastard could do was return his calls on time! And maybe reply to his text messages with more than a couple words. It'd also be nice if he would stay longer whenever he visited their home, instead of running off to work or private matters that were his 'awesome secrets'.<p>

"Ow!" Lovino suddenly yelped, as Gilbert stuck him in the nose with a pencil. "What the hell was that for, bastard? Don't surprise me like that!"

"You were daydreaming, I've been standing here for at least 20 seconds," Gilbert said, wondering how his awesome presence had gone unnoticed.

"Well.. it's all your fault," Lovino pouted, his cheeks turning red.

"What's my fault?"

"For clouding my thoughts, jerk!" he yelled, throwing a balled up paper at Gilbert.

"I'm sorry? There's no way to turn off my awesomeness, though," Gilbert smirked, tossing the paper in the trash and then sitting on Lovino's desk.

"Whatever, cocky bastard. Anyways, you have to come to my house today."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"No, you just haven't visited in about 6 days," Lovino said, trying to calculate the hours and minutes in his head.

"Oh, so you miss me, huh?" a big grin appeared on Gilbert's face as he realized his awesomeness had taken effect.

"That's not the reason! Maybe Feli does, but I see your stupid face all the time!" he shouted, as his face had gone completely red. He didn't expect Gilbert to catch on so easily.

"Then maybe I'll come see little Feli, and then I'll leave," Gilbert said, poking Lovino's red cheeks.

"No, I won't allow that!"

"I won't come at all, then," Gilbert shrugged, as he got up and began to walk away.

"Wait," Lovino said, grabbing onto his sleeve, "please come?" he looked down in embarrassment. He couldn't believe he was stooping so low as to practically beg, but he couldn't get rid of the desire he had inside of himself. It was normal to want to be with your best friend! Even if they were your only friend.

"Alright, if you insist," he said, patting Lovino on the shoulder, "I'll be there after I finish some business."

After school, Lovino hurriedly went home and tidied up the place. He made up his bed, cleaned his desk, and vacuumed the floor. He even made cute little sandwiches and spread them out on a fancy plate he found, then he poured a random bag of chips into a bowl. Carrying it all back to his room and setting it on the short table, he sat and read one of his favorite novels as he pretended that every minute going by wasn't filled with anxiety.

Finally he heard Feliciano greet someone at the door and then footsteps coming up the stairs and to his room.

"You don't have to knock, idiot," he said, as Gilbert opened the door and entered the room.

"Awesome! Are we having a little party or something?" Gilbert asked, as he quickly focused on the snacks and sat down next to Lovino.

"No.. I just knew you liked this stuff," he said, blushing as he closed his book and glanced at Gilbert. "..What happened to your eye?"

Gilbert's right eye was a bit swollen, and it was red. Lovino immediately thought the reckless guy had gotten into another fight, as he did once in awhile. It was as if he was on a schedule.

"This? Oh, I kissed Lizzy."

"You WHAT? !" Lovino deeply frowned as he waited for an explanation.

"She wasn't being bitchy like she normally is. She looked depressed and so I kissed her," Gilbert explained, as if it was no big deal. He then grabbed another small sandwich and gobbled it down while he shoved more chips into his mouth.

"That's your way of cheering people up? You don't just randomly kiss people and expect it to be okay!" he began to lecture, taking the bowl of chips away.

"Nooo, the chips!" Gilbert whined, "And my awesomeness cures everything!"

"Nope. You're on punishment, jackass! I bet it was a horrible kiss, too!"

"All my kisses are awesome~" he insisted.

"I doubt it."

"Fine, then I'll prove it to you," he said, as he suddenly forced his lips against Lovino's.

Lovino only blinked as Gilbert's lips firmly danced across his for a brief moment, before the albino pulled away and smirked. Lovino felt his face instantly dye red as his ears shot on fire and his chest tightened. It wasn't his first kiss, but it was the first time he liked it so much.

"So? That's how I did it to her," Gilbert said, tilting his head as he waited for judgment.

"…W-Well, no wonder she hit you in the eye! You do it too rough and sloppily!" Lovino yelled, quickly ignoring the way he truly felt. "You have to be more gentle.."

"You mean like this?" Gilbert then pressed their lips together again, but this time into a softer and slower kiss.

"Mm.. yeah, like that.. WAIT!" Lovino suddenly shouted, pushing Gilbert away from him. "I know what you're trying to do, deceiving bastard!"

"What?"

"I'm not your damn kissing toy that you can just practice on!" he frowned, as he wiped off his mouth. "Sort of tastes like chips.."

"I wouldn't mind if you were my kissing toy," Gilbert smirked, moving towards Lovino.

"I refuse!" Lovino quickly stood up and jumped on his bed. Grabbing a pillow, he threw it at Gilbert's face.

"Geez, you're acting so pure now, for someone with a foul mouth!" Gilbert laughed as he caught the pillow and laid down on the floor, resting his head on it.

"What's the supposed to mean, perv? !"

"It means you're acting like an innocent little virgin. Which you obviously are~" he teased, winking at the embarrassed Italian.

"Speak for yourself!" Lovino yelled, grabbing his tomato pillow and hiding his face.

"Oh, but I'm not a virgin."

"Liar," Lovino frowned, peeking out from behind the pillow.

"Not a lie, but you don't have to believe me." Gilbert shrugged.

"You mean.. you actually _did_ it before?" he asked, setting the pillow down and staring at the German's face to see if he was telling the truth or not.

"Ja, with an older chick from town; but, that was almost a year ago now," Gilbert said nonchalantly, as he sat up and chewed on a few more chips.

"Oh… so you broke up?"

"Nah, she wasn't my girlfriend. We just did it because we felt like it," he said, frowning as he finished the last of the chips. "She wanted to 'pop my cherry' and I wanted to have sex for once."

Lovino awkwardly sat there in silence as Gilbert started to joke about his weird first experience. He couldn't believe the words that were coming out of the German's mouth, and he wasn't sure how he should feel about the subject. It made him very uncomfortable to know that Gilbert had had sex before. He'd seen before that guys usually congratulate their friend whom lost their virginity, but there was no way in hell he would feel happy for Gilbert right now. In fact, he felt a bit of anger start to fill his body. It wasn't aimed toward anyone specifically, it was just _there_.

"Let's talk about something else," he said, cutting Gilbert off as he had randomly started to talk about a dirty movie.

"Okay, what?"

"Umm-" but just then, Gilbert's phone beeped for a few seconds as he received a text message.

"Oh crap, I forgot I had promised to meet Antonio and Francis at the theater in a few minutes!" Gilbert said, putting his hand to his forehead and shaking his head.

"..Why'd you make other plans if you knew you were coming here?" Lovino frowned, wanting to smack the albino jerk in the head.

"Actually, I promised them first. Then I forgot and agreed to come here.." he said, thinking of what he should choose to do.

"Then go."

Lovino suddenly felt even more angry, and a little betrayed. He knew he shouldn't have felt that way, but he did.

"You should come with! The four of us will see it together. It's that new horror movie, so try not to piss yourself while we're there," Gilbert smirked, getting up to walk to the door.

"I didn't even say I was going, bastard!" Lovino shouted, but instantly regretted it.

"You mean you don't want to..?" Gilbert turned around, a sad expression appearing on his face that Lovino hated so much. Seeing a sad Gilbert was like watching your parents get brutally murdered on your birthday.

"..I'll go, but you're buying the popcorn."

* * *

><p>As they arrived outside of the big theater in the middle of the city, Lovino was disappointed to see that Antonio and Francis actually did show up and were waiting near the ticket booth. A part of him wished that they would have ditched, and then he and Gilbert would watch the movie alone. He really didn't like Francis; and Antonio gave him a weird feeling, maybe because he was far too nice and naïve.<p>

He didn't want to admit to himself that what he really disliked was having to share his best friend with anyone else.

"Oh? I see you've brought your little boy toy along," Francis said, waving to Gilbert.

"Fuck off. I only came because I was bored and felt like laughing at idiots," Lovino snarled, sticking close to Gilbert as they went into the building after buying their tickets.

"Hurry up and buy me some damn popcorn," Lovino pouted, as he pointed to the big pretty picture of delicious buttery popcorn.

"Chill out for a sec, I'm calculating the expenses!" Gilbert said, rounding up the amount in his head. He was really frugal, but that was only because he lived on his own and needed to make good use of his cash.

"I know! You should buy 1 large popcorn, and I'll buy another large. Then the four of us can share! It's cheaper that way," Antonio suggested, as he already started to order the popcorn.

"I don't want to eat the same popcorn as these bastards!" Lovino yelled, crossing his arms and sulking.

"..You should've told us you were busy babysitting, Gil," Francis said, glaring at the complaining Italian.

"Everyone's having a bit of a bad day, I guess? Just shut up and come on," Gilbert sighed, then led the way to the dark theater room.

"Where am I supposed to sit?" Lovino said, seeing as Gilbert was sitting in the middle of Francis and Antonio.

Everyone pointed to the empty seat on the other side, next to Antonio.

"..I don't want to sit over there!"

"Seriously? First the popcorn and now the seats?" Francis said, as he was starting to get irritated and wondered why the hell Gilbert invited the little brat.

"Why does it matter where you sit?" Gilbert asked.

"Because! It's.. only natural to sit next to your friend!" he answered, blushing as he scratched his head.

"Aren't we friends too, Lovi?" Antonio said, frowning as his green eyes turned into a puppy's.

"..Fine! If you want to be friends so badly."

"Alright, how about I sit on this end, then Gilbert, then you, and Antonio on the other end? And the two in the middle holds the popcorn," Francis suggested as the movie was about to start now.

"I'll agree to that arrangement," Lovino shrugged and finally took his seat next to Gilbert and munching on the popcorn.

Throughout most of the movie, Lovino had to repeatedly turn his head to avoid seeing the scary parts. He hated horror films, but he hated being left out even more. It got so bad at one point that he had to hide his face in Gilbert's shoulder for the remainder of the scene. The German didn't mind though, he only continued to laugh and threw popcorn once in awhile.

"Fail. Should've never hid in the closet," Gilbert said, shaking his head. Suddenly, he felt his hand being tightly clenched. He looked down to find Lovino's trembling hand inside of his, as the Italian then rested his head on Gilbert's shoulder. He began to wonder why Lovino was being so clingy lately, but he shrugged it off and held onto the frightened boy's hand until the end of the movie.

"That wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be," Francis said, yawning as they exited the theater.

"It was very entertaining though! What'd you think, Lovi?" Antonio asked.

"Of course I wasn't scared!" Lovino yelled, puffing his red cheeks as he tried to muster up a laugh.

"No one asked if you were scared, he asked what'd you think," Francis smirked, patting the boy's head.

"..Shut up, frenchie!"

"I've got lots of work to do tomorrow so let's get outta here. I'll walk you home, Lovi," Gilbert said, as he waved goodbye to his other two friends and walked off.

"I really wasn't scared.." Lovino blushed.

"Ja, I know," Gilbert smiled and threw his arm around Lovino's shoulder as they made their way to the Italian's home.

On the way back they dropped the subject of the horror movie and talked about whatever came to their minds. Lovino was glad that they'd finally had a casual conversation without Gilbert running off to do who knows what or someone interrupting. It made him wish they had walked slower, because now they were already standing at the front door.

"Will you come over tomorrow?" he asked.

"Doubt it, but if I have time I will."

"What is it that you're so busy with lately?" Lovino frowned and crossed his arms, a pose that always meant he wasn't happy about something.

"Work, obviously. Then there's this group of nice people that I am indebted to.." Gilbert sighed, thinking of how long it would be before he got out of this jam.

"Ugh, you should know better not to borrow money from people, dumb ass. Why'd you do such a thing?" Lovino said, about ready to give the guy another black eye.

"I'm paying them off tomorrow! And.. I needed the money to try this new treatment the doctors told me about. It's a 35% chance of success but at least it's something. Old Fritz's insurance doesn't cover that so, yeah.." he explained, looking very distressed.

"Oh.. why didn't you come to me? We're more than willing to help you out, idiot!"

"I thought of that.. but, your family has helped me out enough."

"There's no limit on how much you can help a friend.." Lovino said, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.

"Hm.. I guess so! Alright, I'll think about that next time. Goodnight~!" Gilbert smiled brightly before swiftly placing a chaste kiss on Lovino's cheeks and darting off.

_What an idiot.._

Blushing, Lovino rushed into the house and got ready for bed. As he laid there, he couldn't help but think about all the things that happened that day. Going to the movies was pretty fun, even if Francis and Antonio were there. In fact, it was sort of even more fun because they were there, too. His mind immediately adverted to the kisses Gilbert had given him that afternoon. He quickly buried his face into the pillow, wondering how and why he could possibly enjoy such a thing.

Suddenly, he thought about their little sex talk. The anger sharks started to swim into his body again, but this time it was a mixture with sadness. The past was the past, he told himself. Why should he care about what happened? That was it, he didn't care. At least, he tried his best not to.

_Do whatever the fuck you want.._

* * *

><p>The next day after school, Lovino wandered around the house to find something to do. He tried playing video games but it's boring doing it alone. He tried to paint with Feliciano, but it only pissed him off and he gave up. He even went into his grandfather's room and found some very interesting magazines. It started giving him weird feelings so he left them alone.<p>

_It's been a couple hours.. Maybe he's not busy anymore._

Lovino thought about giving Gilbert a call, but he suddenly got the idea to surprise him. He'd helped Feliciano bake cookies earlier, so he decided to deliver some to his friend and use that excuse to hang out at his house for awhile. After wrapping the little treats up, he put on his shoes and merrily made his way to Gilbert's small home.

"Damn it.." Lovino cursed, as he stood before the front door of the home. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to knock. A sense of nervousness flooded over his body and refused to let him move. He let out a long sigh before brushing the feeling off and raised his arm to finally give it a try. Before he could knock, the door came open on its own.

"Huh? Oh, hey! You're Gilly's friend!" came a familiar and annoying voice from the cashier girl they called Polly.

Lovino only stared at her in confusion as she waved goodbye and walked off.

"Lovi? I didn't know you were coming by. Come in if you want," Gilbert said, standing in the dining room.

Lovino walked in and closed the door behind him, he then cringed when he noticed the albino wasn't wearing a shirt. He stood there for a second, forgetting why he had come in the first place. Noticing the bag in his hands, he dropped it on the table.

"I brought you some cookies.." he dully said.

"Really? Awesome! Thanks," Gilbert smiled and picked up the bag, rummaging through it and eating a cookie.

Lovino could feel the anger sharks swimming into him again, far more fierce than before. This time, he didn't try to stop it.

"…Did you enjoy it?" he suddenly said.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. These cookies are pretty awesome," Gilbert said, as he stuffed another one in his mouth and quickly gobbled it.

"Not that!" Lovino grabbed the bag and tossed it on the table, "Did you fuck her?"

"What the hell, Lovi? !" Gilbert's eyes widened as he realized who Lovino was referring to. "No way! I told you before, she's just an old friend. Hardly even that."

"That's sure as hell what it looks like happened!" he yelled, pointing to Gilbert's bare chest.

"It's not my fault she came here when I was about to hop into the shower! Seriously, we're not like that."

"Don't lie to me.." Lovino's throat started to quiver as the anger did not cease.

"Why would I lie to you?"

"Because, damn it! You're a stupid bastard that likes to kiss random people and go around having sex for fun!" Lovino shouted out, not paying attention to the deep pain in Gilbert's eyes as he said it.

"…I didn't fucking tell you those things so you can throw it back in my face!" Gilbert yelled back in a very frightening tone that made Lovino flinch.

"Then why did you tell me about it? To rub it in my face?"

"Because I trusted you, and I thought I could tell you anything without being judged... but now I see that I was wrong." Gilbert walked over and put on a sweater that was lying on the back of a chair, then asked, "And why do you care about what I do anyways? I don't see why it matters.. unless you're jealous of me."

"Who the hell would be jealous of someone like you? You're an arrogant jerk that thinks everyone wants to be like you, when actually no one even likes your ass!"

The room fell dead silent for a few seconds that seemed like years. Lovino angrily glared at him, while Gilbert emotionlessly stared at the floor. The only thing Lovino could hear was his heart beating incredibly fast, and the sound of the ticking clock on the wall.

"Leave."

"Eh? I'm not done talking to you!"

"I don't care. Just leave."

Lovino felt a sharp stab to his chest as Gilbert wouldn't even look at him. It was the most painful feeling he'd had in years. He decided to just obey before anything else went horribly wrong, so he exited the house and slammed the door behind him.

_I don't fucking care what he does.. I seriously don't._

He continued to think to himself as he stormed home. The rest of his day was ruined, and he didn't eat dinner either. He tried to figure out what made him so angry, and why he had said the things that he did. Everything was now pissing him off, even when Feliciano came in his room to see if he was alright. That night he went to sleep silently crying to himself.

* * *

><p>The next day, Lovino was relieved to see that Gilbert had no come to school. He had no idea how he would face the guy since they sit close to each other in two of their classes. Even so, every hour he checked his phone after school to see if he had any text messages or voicemails. It was as if he was subconsciously doing it, hoping Gilbert would call and forgive him, then he would do the same. Still, his useless pride kept him from doing anything.<p>

_Not like I care.._

The day after that, Gilbert failed to show up to school once again. Lovino was a little worried at first, but then he figured the jerk was just messing around and wanted to make him feel bad. Well, he's not going down that easy! That is, until Gilbert didn't show up a third day.

_Seriously? What the fuck!_

This wasn't funny anymore. Being angry and not wanting to approach someone was one thing, but completely missing the rest of the school week was another. After contemplating it for a long time, Lovino decided to visit the bastard after school. He was probably going to get rejected but at least he'd know Gilbert was alright.

As soon as the bell rang for school to end, he dashed to the German's home. Inhaling and exhaling many times, he finally brought himself to knock on the door.

_No answer.._

He continued to knock for awhile and waited.

5 minutes. 10 minutes. 20 minutes. Soon to be 30 minutes.

"Seriously! Where the fuck are you?" Gilbert was obviously not there, so he depressingly walked back to his home.

Lovino sulked around the house for awhile. The atmosphere around him was dark, and heavily depressing. It was starting to get on Caesar's nerves to see this horrid sight. Thus, he decided to try being a guardian for once.

"What's the matter, ometto? Did you get your heart broken? There are plenty of fish in the sea!" he said, sitting down next to Lovino on the couch. He almost screeched when Lovino turned to him and revealed his face full of anguish.

"It's different than that.. Gilbert has been missing from school for 3 days," he said, his depressing tone unchanged.

"You mean you haven't heard from him at all? Did you check his place?"

"I did! And I waited.. and waited.. I know he couldn't have been at work, I remember his schedule. He isn't anywhere," Lovino sputtered out as his eyes began to water.

"When was the last time you saw him? And how did he seem? Maybe it will give us some clues," Caesar said, putting a reassuring hand on Lovino's shoulder.

"At his house…we had an argument, and he told me to leave. So I did. But it doesn't matter anymore! I'm done with being angry.."

Caesar sighed and rubbed the young Italian on the head.

"He must be around here somewhere, then. He's your best friend, right? So you must know another place that he retreats to when things like this happen?"

Lovino thought long and hard for a few seconds before getting his hope back.

"He.. likes to go to the pond! He says it's peaceful and makes him feel better!"

"So stop lounging around here and go get him!" Caesar smiled, patting Lovino on the back and sending him on his way.

* * *

><p>Lovino quickly ran to the pond hoping that he would find that someone he'd been wanting to see.<p>

_Please be here, damn it.._

Looking around for a while, he finally caught a glimpse a figure with messy white hair, sitting down in front of the pond. He immediately ran over to him.

"Gilbert! You bastard, making me worry like that.." he began as he drew near the German, "I'm sorry for everything I said before, it was uncalled for. I don't know what came over me.. but that doesn't mean you should just completely forget about your education!"

"…I'm just going to drop out," Gilbert finally said.

"What? You can't do that! I said I was sorry…" he began to say, but once he saw Gilbert's dripping red eyes and weary face, he didn't know how to react.

"I'm just a failure. I can't do anything right... I abandoned Ludwig back then, because I'm just too weak."

Lovino kneeled down in front of him and stared into the red abyss of his watery eyes. He looked as if he'd been crying for days, as the area around his eyes were puffy and also red. He even had dark marks and bags under his eyes because he probably hadn't slept, either.

"Gilbert, none of that is true. You can't do _everything_! No one is a super hero, even if you are awesome.. tell me what happened."

"He's **gone**, Lovi.. dead. No more. 35% chance.. why did I even get my hopes up? I should have expected this. All of that time, wasted.." Gilbert explained, as new streams of tears began to escape from his swollen eyes.

Lovino wrapped his arms around Gilbert's neck and tightly hugged him as his sobs became louder.

"I'm sorry.. I'm sorry.. he's resting in peace now," Lovino said, as he gently rubbed Gilbert's trembling back, "please don't drop out of school. He wouldn't want that.. you've come so far, too."

Lovino began to softly whisper some comforting words in Italian, that his grandfather would whisper to him when he was little. Gilbert's cries finally began to quiet down as Lovino stroked his head. Suddenly, Lovino felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and pull him closer. They stayed like that for awhile, until Gilbert had gone completely silent.

"Lovino.. what should I do? I don't know anything about this paperwork for someone's death and crap like that," he said, letting out a loud sigh.

"You're not alone in this. Let the adults take care of that, alright? You're still a kid until your next birthday, so act like it."

"Alright.. what should I tell Luddy, though? I haven't talked to anyone these past couple days.. I'm afraid."

"Um.. I'll go with you to tell him, whenever you're ready," Lovino smiled, then swiftly kissed Gilbert's forehead.

"You would do that?" he asked, his red eyes widening.

"Of course I would, damn it. I said you're not alone, remember? I'm always here.. I'm practically stuck with you!"

"Haha, awesome! I'm glad. Thank you, Lovi," Gilbert finally smiled his usual smile as they stood up from the ground together.

"Come on, let's go get some ice cream, my treat. Then we'll discuss the situation with your brother," Lovino said, grabbing Gilbert by the hand and pulling him along.

"Alright, I'll agree to that~!"

_Just keep smiling like that.. And never forget that I'm here for you._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So the angst/mega drama pretty much ends here. The last couple chapters will be more focused on their relationship and Lovino's realization of his newly found feelings for Sir Awesome. Not sure how many more I'll make, maybe 2 or 3 more chapters. Now sure yet.**


	8. Changes and Choices

**A/N: This chapter is about feelings of desire, hormones, being a teenager, etc? Hah, I feel kinda weird for even thinking of it, but stuff like this happens to most of us going through these years of changes! So I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

><p>Lying on the bed in his room, alone, Lovino stared up at the ceiling as he thought of what he could do to get rid of this boredom. Lounging around the house was his usual activity, whenever Feliciano wasn't enough entertainment for him or Gilbert was busy. He wanted to try something new for once, but he didn't know what there was possibly to do. His brainstorming failed him, and he decided to get some help with this idea from his best friend.<p>

"Finally you answer the damn phone. What were you doing?" he said, irritably.

"I was in the middle of a raid!" Gilbert said on the other side of the line, as Lovino could hear faint clicking sounds in the background.

"That stupid game again.. why don't you come over?"

Gilbert made a slight groan before laughing and jokingly asking, "Do I haaave tooo, mom? I'm almost level 85!"

"Fine! Stay alone in your dark room and play games all damn day!" Lovino yelled, ready to slam the phone down.

"I was joking, Lovi. I'll be there in 10 seconds flat!" Gilbert said, quickly hanging up the phone.

_Well.. that wasn't so hard._

Lovino relaxed on his bed and patiently waited for Gilbert to show up. And he waited. And waited. Finally, the door bell rang and he darted down the steps before anyone else could even answer it. Quickly fixing his hair and trying not to look as if he was desperate for company, he opened the door and pouted.

"What the hell took you so long? It's been like an hour."

"Ja, I had to fix myself up. I was still in my pajamas," Gilbert said, as he walked into the warm home.

"..It's fucking 3:30pm. Well, I guess I should've expected that from you," Lovino rolled his eyes as they retreated upstairs and back into his room.

Gilbert quickly made himself at home and did whatever Lovino did; which was quietly reading a book on the floor. He'd hoped they would at least play some games together, but then he remembered all of Lovino's video games sucked. His DVDs were alright, but that would just waste even more time. And if he wanted to see a movie, he would have stayed at home or gone to the theater in town. He thought of going to bother Feliciano for awhile, but he knew Lovino would only get angry. It was dreadfully boring.

"Loviiiii.. I'm so damn bored," he said, poking Lovino in the chest. His head was resting in the Italian's lap as they both read whatever book they'd picked up from the bookshelf. Gilbert thought he'd give one of the romantic novels a try, but it wasn't as awesome as he'd hoped. No one was dying, fighting, or even getting betrayed. He had no idea how Lovino could read this junk and actually enjoy it.

"What the hell do you expect me to do about it?" Lovino said, continuing to read his book that he found so interesting.

"I don't know.. you called me here. Entertain me."

"I called you here.. just because! Entertain yourself," Lovino stuck his tongue out and went back to reading.

Gilbert continued to lie there for awhile, before getting an awesome idea. Well, he saw it as awesome, but it was really a horrible idea on Lovino's part.

"Alright, guess I will," he said, reaching up and running his fingers through Lovino's hair, trying to grab the sensitive curl.

"W-What the fuck do you think you're doing? !" Lovino shouted, smacking Gilbert's hand away and beginning to turn red.

"I knew it! Whenever I try to touch that weird ass cowlick of yours, you get all tense. It's kinda funny," Gilbert chuckled, then played with his own hair as he tried to imitate the shape of the curl, but his hair wasn't quite long enough.

"So what? Don't touch it!"

"Why not? It's just hair. You can touch mine if you want," Gilbert smiled, then ruffled his hair around in Lovino's lap.

"That's not the point, idiot. Just.. don't. It feels too weird," he said, wishing that his curl wasn't so accessible. He didn't really know why he felt so weird whenever it was touched by anyone other than himself, but the few times Gilbert had touched it made him feel extremely weird on a level unimaginable. Thus, every time the bastard tried to touch it again, Lovino sort of freaked out.

"Alright, I won't," Gilbert shrugged, and went back to reading the book in his hands.

Lovino sighed with relief and turned the page of his book. Just then, an arm stealthily reached up and firmly grasped his curl. The sudden contact caused him to yelp as his face started to go red.

"Haha! Caught you off guard. I never said I wouldn't touch it _this_ time. I won't next time, though," Gilbert smirked, as he sat up and began to examine the odd hair curl.

"Gil..Gilbert, stop it.. damn you," Lovino sputtered out, as his heart began to beat at a magnificent rate and his face deeply burned with embarrassment _and_ excitement.

"Nein. Hmm.. why won't it go down?" Gilbert continued to examine the curl, pulling it downwards to try and make it stay there, but it continued to pounce back up into the air.

Lovino tried as hard as he could to hold in the moans, it felt as if he'd explode any second now. He hated it, but then again he enjoyed it. Part of him wanted to slice Gilbert's fingers off but another part of him wouldn't fight back no matter what was going on. Soon enough, the latter side of him completely took over and he didn't even attempt to resist now.

_Why.. am I feeling this way.._

"This thing needs to be looked at by a specialist or something.. maybe they have some special gel that you can put on it," Gilbert said, as he playfully twisted the curl around his fingers. He thought Lovino needed a haircut, but he supposed he looked cuter this way.

An exasperated moan escaped Lovino's mouth, as the pleasure soared through his entire body and he arched his back a little.

"Shit.. did I hurt you? My bad, Lovi.. didn't mean to," Gilbert said, quickly letting go of the curl as he took notice of the expression on Lovino's dark red face and the noises he was making.

Lovino turned away as he tried to hide the weird bulge in his pants and continued inhaling and exhaling deeply. Even his mind felt as if it was burning, as he couldn't think straight and paid no attention to the German that was staring at him in concern.

"If it hurts so much when it's touched, why don't you get it looked at by a doctor or something?" Gilbert asked, gently rubbing the boy on his back to make him feel better.

"….S-Shut up.. and it.. doesn't hurt," Lovino sputtered out, flinching from the touch of Gilbert's hand as the weird feeling from his body started to cease.

"But it looked as if you were in pain. I'm really sorry.. hold on, I'll get you something to drink!" he suggested, getting up from the floor and quickly exiting the room to run downstairs.

_Fuck.._

Lovino slowly stood up from the floor and sat on his bed. He felt really hot even though he was sure the air conditioning was on, and it was autumn so there was no reason for that. His heart beat had finally went back to normal, but he couldn't shake the feeling off that felt so good, yet a little wrong at the same time.

"I brought apple juice," Gilbert said, as he walked back into the room and handed the glass to Lovino.

Lovino almost dropped the glass when their hands touched for a split second, surprising him.

"Thanks.." he said, as he quickly gulped down the juice and tried his best not to look Gilbert in the eyes.

"Welp, I'm bored again," Gilbert sighed, as they had been sitting there in complete silence for about 10 minutes while Lovino pretended to be reading his book again.

For some reason, Lovino felt that he had to get out of the suffocating room, maybe even the entire house. Then he'd forget all about what had just happened and get rid of the everlasting boredom that they shared. He thought for a minute, and finally came up with an idea.

"Hey.. let's go to the mall."

"Isn't that a bit.. girly?" Gilbert asked, raising one eyebrow as he thought of prancing around merrily in the mall and shopping for nail polish or perfume.

"Well fuck, I don't see you making any suggestions! Besides, anyone can go to the mall. Not just girls," Lovino frowned, setting his book down and grabbing his wallet.

"Alright, I'll go on this awesome adventure with you. Just don't make me carry your little shopping bags," he teased, as they returned downstairs and exited the home.

* * *

><p>At the mall, Lovino was glad to see that his plan had worked. He no longer felt weird and was actually having fun, checking out random stores with Gilbert. They even got frappuccinos, some candy, Gilbert bought a stuffed panda bear for no apparent reason, and now they were checking out some clothing stores. Lovino was a professional when it came to fashion. He never looked sloppy or too flashy, and he always had new clothes for different seasons. Now, he was going to pimp out Gilbert, even if he had to spend his own money to do so. He was tired of the guy looking like some sort of punk rocker all the time.<p>

"Hold still," he said, holding up a shirt in front of the squirming German to see if it would look good.

"I don't wanna get new clothes! I like my own," Gilbert whined, as Lovino continued to hand him pieces of clothing that he thought he'd never look as awesome in.

"Be grateful! I'm fixing you up for your own good. And so I don't look like I'm hanging around with some weirdo," Lovino smirked as he shoved everything in Gilbert's arms and dragged him to the dressing rooms.

"Damn.. you're so bossy," Gilbert pouted, being shoved into a stall by the forceful Italian.

"Just shut the hell up, and try on the first outfit I gave you."

Gilbert let out a loud sigh, disapproving of all the shenanigans. Seeing as he'd never get out of there if he continued to resist, he quickly undressed and put on the outfit that he was told. After a minute or two, he opened the stall door and slouched as Lovino examined his body.

"Hmm.. too preppy for you. Put on those next," Lovino said, pointing to a second outfit which consisted of a dark leather jacket and baggy pants with many straps and chains.

Once again, Gilbert complained a bit before trying on the outfit and reappearing. Lovino tried to hold in his laughter as he had intentionally picked out the silly goth-looking outfit just to see if Gilbert would actually put it on.

"That's real funny, Lovi. Next time, I'll make you wear a frilly short skirt and fishnets to show off those legs of yours," Gilbert winked, and Lovino quickly shoved him back into the dressing room to try on the last outfit.

"Hurry up and show me already," he said, as Gilbert finally opened the door again. "It's not too much different from what you normally wear.. but, those skinny jeans look good on you. Still, it's missing something.."

Gilbert waited as Lovino ran off back into the main section of the store. After a little while, he came back with a flashy accessory.

"It looks complicated.." Gilbert stared in confusion at the accessory Lovino handed to him, which appeared to be a belt. It was aligned with little skulls and the buckle was decorated with shiny little gems that made one big word, 'Awesome'. That detail immediately caught his attention and he decided to try it out.

Although the belt was very cool looking on the outside, it was very difficult to put on. Gilbert thought it must've been some sort of secret agent gadget, as it was almost impossible to put on unless one was familiar with complex technology of sorts.

"I can't put this shit on, Lovi.. just take it back," he said, giving up as he opened the door. It was a shame, too, because he knew it would look awesome on him.

"Do I have to do everything for you? Geez, step back," Lovino sighed as he moved into the dressing room and closed the door.

He took a seat on the small bench that was connected to the wall and closely pulled Gilbert by the waist to work on the belt. And who knew, the bastard was right. It looked like hell to put on, and Lovino had a hard time figuring it out.

"If someone puts this on, how the hell are they supposed to take it off? Stupid designers.." he shook his head, as he'd finally gotten the belt on Gilbert's thin waist correctly. Looking at his body as a whole, he found that it really suited the albino and he decided to buy it for him. All of a sudden, he noticed that he'd been at eye level with Gilbert's crotch area the entire time. He quickly jolted up from the seat as Gilbert began to observe himself in the mirror.

"Awesome, I'm 10 times sexier now. But, I don't like this shirt much," Gilbert frowned, then turned to Lovino, "It'd probably look better on you."

He then proceeded to pull the shirt off, over his head and tried handing it to Lovino.

"Um! N-No thanks.. I don't need to try anything on, damn it!" he said, blushing deeply as he tried not to stare at Gilbert's bare chest. It was a hard thing to do, when there isn't much space and the person is practically up against you.

"Nonsense, just try it on. You made me try things on so now it's your turn!" Gilbert laughed, as he reached over to Lovino and quickly pulled his shirt off without any trouble at all.

"CHIGI!" Lovino screeched, grabbing the new shirt and covering himself with it. Almost like a bad omen, the weird feeling he'd had earlier that afternoon came back to haunt him. He quickly turned around to maneuver the shirt on, trying to calm himself. Once it was completely on, Gilbert whirled him around to check him out.

"See? It does look good. You should get that for yourself," he smiled, giving a thumbs up.

"..Fine, I will. So just put back on your damn shirt and let's get out of here!" Lovino yelled, grabbing his original shirt and quickly putting it back on while Gilbert wasn't looking. After buying the few items that suited them best, they exited the mall and walked down the street together. Lovino discreetly tried his best to keep a nice few inches away from the albino as they finally arrived back at his home.

"You know.. you didn't have to walk me home," he said, looking down in embarrassment.

"Pfft. A cute kid like you, walking alone in the evening? That's just asking for trouble," Gilbert said, rubbing Lovino on the head.

"..And don't refer to me as a damn kid! I'm only 2 months younger than you," he blushed, irritated at how everyone treats him like a kid just because he's slightly shorter than most people his age.

"Whatever. So, if I come over tomorrow, can I spend the night?" Gilbert asked.

"Tomorrow? Well um… sure, I guess."

"Sweet. I'll be here around the afternoon or early evening. Today was fun! Hope you have a goodnight," Gilbert gave Lovino a quick hug before picking up his shopping bags and heading home.

* * *

><p>After putting away his new shirt and setting down his things, Lovino grabbed his pajamas and hopped into the shower. He always liked the water to be really hot, as it felt good on his skin. It didn't burn him for some reason, probably because he was used to it. He decided to use this leisurely time of relaxation to plan his day before Gilbert would arrive sometime that evening. This proved to be really difficult, since he couldn't get the things that happened to him earlier that afternoon out of his mind.<p>

_What a troublesome jerk.._

He shook his head and began to wash his lower regions. When he touched it, he noticed something was different. Very different.

_What the hell? It's so stiff.._

All of a sudden he began to panic. He remembered watching a soap opera on TV once where the main character had a lump on his member and died once it had spread. He thought there must have been a word for that. What was it.. cancer? His eyes widened when he thought of the possibility and shook it off, thinking there was no way in hell he could have such a thing! After all, things like that only happen to other people, not him! Right? He decided to carefully examine it again.

"Ahh.." the slight moan came from his lips, immediately after he had made contact with this odd discovery. He suddenly remembered feeling this exact same way when Gilbert had kissed him many weeks ago in his bedroom, and the time that they were on the field trip and the idiot got wet in the fountain. He also strongly felt it when the jerk was messing with his curl, and earlier that evening in the dressing room at the mall!

_Everything points back to that bastard.._

Just as he had expected, and according to his memories, he had felt this feeling whenever Gilbert did weird things around him. He frowned, wondering how Gilbert had somehow annoyed him to the point where his body felt it, too. There had to be a way to make it go back to normal.

"But… it actually feels really.. good," Lovino said to himself, blushing deeply as he continued to gently touch his erection.

He soon found that the more he touched it, the better it felt. Not caring about anything else at the moment, he quickly wrapped his hand around it and rapidly stroked it, the sound of the rushing water drowning out his somewhat loud moans.

_Damn you… Gilbert.._

The next day, Caesar watched in confusion as Lovino paced back and forth in the dining room. He'd noticed the younger Italian had been acting strange lately, but more so ever since he entered high school. A light bulb went off in his head, as he realized it could only mean that his grandson was going through one thing: puberty.

"Ometto! Come here for a sec?" he said, pointing to the couch as Lovino walked over and sat down, wondering what was going on.

"What is it?"

"I think it's time we had.. 'the talk'." Caesar began, a stern expression appearing on his face as he thought of how he should explain the situation to the boy.

"…Grandpa Caesar, I'm 17. Not 13. I know where babies come from and I know about sex," Lovino sighed, as it was far too late for the man to start telling him about such things when he was almost legally an adult now.

"Oh! That's good. Just don't have unprotected sex! Unless the girl is filthy rich.. and don't do drugs, either! Especially if someone gives it to you for free. _Nothing_ is free. And always, **always** look both ways before crossing the street! Unless you're wearing a helmet," Caesar smiled in accomplishment from that wicked advice, before patting Lovino on the shoulder and starting to walk off.

"Wait! There's.. something I _do_ want to talk to you about," Lovino said, twiddling his fingers as he thought up the words.

"Alright, go ahead! I'll answer as best I can."

"Well.. I have this 'acquaintance' and he tells me things.."

"Alright, what's his name?"

"Um.. his name is.. Romano. Yeah, and he's really badass. Anyways, he tells me that he's been feeling really weird lately. You know.. down there," Lovino blushed, pointing to his pants. "And well, this only happens when he's around a certain friend, and it gets so awkward.. what should he do? !"

"Calm down, ometto. Let me calculate this.." he said, putting his hand to his chin and looking deep in thought. "So, he gets a weird feeling whenever he's around his friend. It makes him feel awkward to the point where he doesn't know what to do anymore, so he asked you about it, right?"

"Uh.. yeah. I think so."

"Then that means he carries deep feelings for that person! And what he needs to do is.." Caesar explained, leaning in to whisper to Lovino, "he needs to be direct as possible!"

"What the hell does that mean?" Lovino frowned, not understanding a word the man was speaking.

"It means that he should go out there, and claim his prize! He shall express his feelings to that person, not holding back. But actions speak louder than words, my boy!"

"O-Okay.. but, what about the weird feeling? How do you make it go away? !"

"If what you mean by 'weird feeling' is getting turned on, then all he has to do is whack it and it'll go back to normal for awhile!" Caesar smiled brightly, feeling accomplished once again.

"…What?"

"Masturbation."

Lovino's face instantly shot red as he began to stutter, "Y-You mean.. w-when you touch it a-alot?"

"Exactly! You'll find how many wonders it will do you in the future!" he chuckled, patting Lovino on the shoulder.

"W-Well I have to go now! Um.. thanks for listening. I'll tell him what you said," Lovino said, quickly dashing out of the room and back up the stairs to his own.

"No problem, ometto!" Caesar sniffled, ready to cry tears of joy. "Kids.. they grow up so damn fast.."

_That's not what I did.. it was different.._

* * *

><p>Lovino curled up on his bed and tried to forget these nuisance feelings inside of himself. A few hours later, Gilbert arrived like he had promised and they sat there in the bedroom as Lovino watched him play a PSP. The German's every movement alarmed him, and he couldn't avert his eyes away from the guy. It made him wish that he had never started to feel this way, then he'd be able to relax and joke around like normally. Gilbert would say something stupid or cocky, then he would bite back and everything would be natural. He was just about to start crying when he remembered his grandfather's advice and decided to suck it up and be direct.<p>

"Hey.. Gilbert?" he said, after clearing his throat.

"Hm.. oh, you want a turn now?" Gilbert asked, holding out the portable system.

"No, I just wanted to ask you a question."

"Alright, what?" he then picked up his glass of water and began drinking it.

"Do you masturbate?"

The sudden very awkward question caused Gilbert to choke on the water as Lovino patted him on the back. After coughing for awhile, he managed to speak up.

"What the hell kind of question is that? !" he said, furiously blushing as he sat the game down and wiped off his wet shirt.

"I don't know! I just thought I'd ask!"

"That's not something you just casually ask someone!" Gilbert shook his head as he put a hand to his forehead.

"Well.. you sometimes talk about sex!" Lovino frowned, thinking it was unfair how the jerk could talk about whatever he wanted but when it came to be his turn, it was seen as 'inappropriate'.

"Sex and.. _that_ are two different things!" Gilbert said, trying to think of a way to explain it without making things even more awkward.

"Whatever, bastard," Lovino then moved over and placed himself in Gilbert's lap.

"…_Now_ what are you doing? !" he asked, as the Italian comfortably positioned himself in his lap. From the odd way he was acting, Gilbert started to think that Lovino had got into his grandfather's cabinet of fancy red wine and drank an entire bottle. Who cares if he didn't smell like alcohol, he was being just plain weird!

"Shut up, I'm trying to be direct and claim my prize!" Lovino yelled, leaning back against Gilbert's chest.

Luckily for Gilbert, Feliciano had decided to be his savior and walked in just before things could get any weirder. The younger Italian tilted his head as he stared at the sight before him, wondering why his brother was in Gilbert's lap. He quickly shrugged and supposed that's what best friends do. After all, he did things like that to Ludwig often.

"Gilly, you can use the shower now!" Feliciano said, smiling as he exited the room.

"Okay! Um.. be back soon, Lovi," the boy quickly moved over as Gilbert got up and made his way to the bathroom.

"Shit.. stupid ass advice," Lovino cursed, thinking it was the last time he'd ever take advice from his grandfather who obviously only made things worse.

As they laid in bed later that night, Lovino continued to curse these dreadful feelings that would not leave him alone. He prayed that they would leave him be, as they especially haunted him now that Gilbert was lying right next to him. Even the usual warmth that he savored gave him that weird feeling again, and listening to Gilbert's silent breathing caused his heart to race. As if it wasn't already bad enough, he could even slightly feel the breathing down the back of his neck, as they slept extremely close together as usual.

"Lovi? What's the matter?" Gilbert suddenly asked, as the boy continued to fidget around under his grasp.

"Nothing! It's just.. well, your arm.."

"Oh.. but we always sleep like this whenever I spend the night. Are you tired of it?" Gilbert said, a bit of sadness could be heard in his voice.

"That's not what I meant!" Lovino tried to think of the words to explain, as he turned around to face the albino. "It's just.. I've been feeling weird lately. Some sort of internal illness.. "

"Eh? Then you need to see a doctor! Quickly!" Gilbert yelled, as he obviously had a great fear of illnesses ever since an illness took the life of his most precious one. If the same fate were to become of Lovino, he would most definitely go insane.

"It's not that kind of illness, calm down.. it's something between me and myself. Damn it, I can't explain it well but don't worry about it!" Lovino sighed as the many thoughts were starting to give him headaches.

"Well.. is there anything I can do to help?"

"Just.. promise you won't leave me, even though I might act weird sometimes from now on.." Lovino requested, for he greatly feared that these feelings would drive Gilbert away from him and out of his life for good. He'd already made things awkward earlier, and if it continued down this road, he expected to eventually lose the one that he cared for most.

"You're kidding, right? Of course I'd never leave you! What kind of awesome best friend would I be if I did?" Gilbert smiled, as he tightly hugged the worried Italian.

"Good.. because if you ever did, I'd kick your ass," Lovino warned, as he smiled back and rested his head against Gilbert's chest. The soft, repetitive beat of his heart soothed Lovino and he quickly fell into a peaceful sleep without worry.

_These feelings.. may not be so bad after all._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yeah.. I definitely feel like a perv now. Sorry Lovino! Please forgive me! Oh well, hope it didn't suck. Need to get to work on ideas for the next chapter, so thanks for reading this one.**


	9. Ocean's Call, Relaxation

**A/N: I randomly came up with this idea yesterday! I think it's pretty alright. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

><p>The sound of the evil alarm clock awoken Lovino from his peaceful slumber. He groaned for a few seconds before getting very annoyed and shutting the damn machine off. He yawned and stretched before glancing down at the sleeping figure next to him. It seemed that Gilbert slept soundly through the annoying alarm the entire time. Still, it was time to get up and so Lovino decided to wake the German from his sleep so that they would not miss their ride.<p>

"Hey.. wake up," he said, gently shaking Gilbert's shoulder.

Gilbert only groaned slightly and turned over in the bed, facing the ceiling.

"Gilbert, wake the hell up," he said again, a little annoyed at the fact of being ignored the first time.

"Neeeiiin.." Gilbert moaned, before going back to sleep.

Lovino sighed and scratched his head before he thought of an idea. A mischievous smile appeared on his face as he threw a leg over Gilbert's sleeping body and mounted on top of him. The sudden movement didn't even startle the sleepyhead, so Lovino gave a nice bounce up and down, sending a wave a pain to Gilbert's vital regions.

"Agh! What the hell are you trying to do? Break me?" Gilbert's eyes immediately shot open as Lovino pressed his entire body weight on him.

"I told your ass to wake up, we don't want to be late."

"Late for what? It's Sunday.." he said, as his eyes began to flutter shut.

"We're going on a little trip!" Lovino said, taking a hand and pinching Gilbert's nose to make him pay attention.

"Ugh, I didn't agree to that when I decided to spend the night," Gilbert groaned, swapping Lovino's hand away.

"It was a surprise. We're going to the beach today."

"THE BEACH? !" Gilbert immediately sat up, almost causing Lovino's body to flip off of the bed. A very excited grin spread across his face, as he'd been wanting to go to the beach since forever now.

"Yeah.. Grandpa Caesar said we should get out of the house for once. It's really just an excuse so that he can visit one of his old girlfriends that lives near the ocean," Lovino explained, getting up from the bed and packing his things.

"Oh! But, it's not even summer anymore. Won't it be cold?"

"That beach is pretty much always hot. Now get the fuck up because we can't miss the train!"

Gilbert lazily arose from the warm bed and looked around the room. He had just noticed it was still dark out, and looking at the clock he found that it was only 5:30 in the morning. It made sense, because the beach is very far away and would take a few hours to get there. This was going to be so awesome, he told himself. He really liked to swim, but he hadn't any time to do it since he needs to make a living. A vacation is exactly what he needed, even if it was only for one day.

"You should be really happy, somehow your brother managed to get permission to come with us. Maybe only because Feli showed up to his house with a buncha cookies.." Lovino said, shaking his head as he had tried to stop the younger Italian from doing something so risky, but he went ahead and did it anyway.

Gilbert gasped at the thought of Feliciano actually being so brave as to do such a thing. But then again, the poor boy was probably too naïve to notice that neither Ludwig nor Gilbert actually liked their foster parents. Still, such a cute face was hard to resist, so that's obviously the reason why they allowed Ludwig to go on this little getaway with the Italians.

"Awesome! This is going to be the best trip ever!" Gilbert exclaimed, as he helped Lovino pack.

After about 45 minutes of messing around in the house, the four of them finally left and picked up Ludwig from his home. Lovino could tell that Gilbert was more than ecstatic to see his younger brother, as he continuously poked and teased the boy the entire way to the train station. When they arrived, Gilbert stared in awe at all of his surroundings. There were many different trains of different sizes, and people rushed along, pulling big suitcases behind them; it was a sight to see! After receiving their train tickets, they finally boarded.

"I've never been on a train before," Gilbert said, sitting down in a seat next to the window.

"It's nothing too special. But, this is going to take a while. So I'm taking a nap.. don't do anything stupid to wake me up," Lovino warned, as he slouched down in the seat and closed his eyes.

Gilbert shrugged and turned around in his seat to look at the others. Feliciano was happily telling Ludwig about the beautiful ocean as Grandpa Caesar had already fallen asleep in the row of seats across from them. He began to pout a little, as he'd wanted to converse with someone, too. Too bad Lovino was fast asleep, as the train began to leave the station. He supposed that he'd bother the boy when it was time to go swimming. Staring out of the window, Gilbert anticipated their arrival.

* * *

><p>"This… is our room?" Ludwig asked, glancing around the spacious suite of the hotel they had checked into. There were two bedrooms and a fancy dining room with a couch that also had a bed inside of it. The bathroom was sparkly clean, and the little kitchen area was fantastic. It's not like they'd use it, though. On vacations, everyone knows that it's awesome to eat out at the fancy restaurants!<p>

"You Italians got it made!" Gilbert exclaimed, running around the suit to explore. At this point, he figured that Lovino and his family were the richest people in the world. They were also the kindest, for bringing him along on this awesome trip. He couldn't wait to explore the beach now, but the magnificent suite was hogging all of his attention.

"I'll be back later this evening!" Caesar said, as he had already begun heading for the door.

"I knew you'd run off," Lovino frowned, ready to scold his grandfather for being such a womanizer and a party whore.

"You kids wouldn't want me ruining your little fun! I'm young and hip, too; but my lady needs me! I'll be back for dinner," he said, waving goodbye as he exited to room.

"Can we go down to the beach? Can we?" Feliciano asked excitedly, jumping up and down in front of his brother.

"Fine, fine. Grab your towel and whatever else you need," Lovino said, as he saw that Feliciano and Ludwig had already put on their swimming trunks.

Making their way out of the hotel and down to the ocean, Lovino was glad to see that it wasn't so crowded there. It was a vast beach, but not many people went in the autumn; lifeguards were off duty, too. Still, it was very warm out and the water sparkled brightly in the sun that was now high in the sky. After setting down a really large towel and an umbrella to avoid the sun, Feliciano took Ludwig by the hand and ran off towards the cool water.

"Don't go in too deep!" Lovino yelled out to them, as they didn't even look back.

"Hm~ What should we do first?" Gilbert asked, excitedly looking around at everything. Maybe they should play beach volleyball! He'd surely kick Lovino's ass at that. Or, they could walk around and collect seashells first. He loved shiny things almost as much as cute things. His last idea was to bury Lovino in the sand, all the way up to his neck. Then, he'd pretend to leave him there and watch the chaos from afar!

"Well first, you need to put on sunscreen."

"What? That's corny!"

"Someone with your skin type would surely get sunburned easily. Those hurt like hell, if you didn't know. Your brother already put some on, so stop being childish and do it!" Lovino yelled, as he sat down under the shade from the umbrella.

Gilbert pouted before grabbing the bottle of sunscreen and squirting a bunch into his hands. He impatiently rubbed it all over his arms and legs, then some on his face. He took off his tank top and tried to put some on his back, but realized that was physically impossible unless he were some circus freak.

"Help me put it on," he said, as he walked over to Lovino and sat in front of him.

Lovino hesitated for a short moment before grabbing the bottle and agreeing, "Fine."

He rubbed the sunscreen around in his hands before inhaling and administrating it onto Gilbert's pale bare back. His nearly milky white skin felt so soft, probably from all the moisture; but still, it was mesmerizing. Lovino rubbed along the light scars that were hardly even visible now, and made his way up to Gilbert's shoulders. He found them to be very interesting, for they were not too broad nor were they slouchy. If he wanted to, he would most definitely be suitable as a male model for one of those magazines that glamorize lean male bodies. Lovino discreetly gave the shoulders a slight massage before inching his hands back down to Gilbert's lower back.

Gilbert sighed contently as Lovino rotated his thumbs inward, smoothing out the skin a little. He knew what Lovino was doing, but he enjoyed it so he decided to just let the Italian explore his body for a bit. After all, free massages were awesome and Lovino's soft hands felt so gentle against his skin that he didn't want it to end. He probably would have fallen asleep from the soothing pleasure, but Lovino stopped.

"Now the front," he said, trying not to sound as excited as he felt about getting the chance to rub Gilbert's chest.

Gilbert quickly obeyed, as he got up and turned around before sitting again. He smiled before closing his eyes as Lovino poured more of the sunscreen into his hands again and pressed his palms against Gilbert's chest.

Lovino decided to start at the very top and make his way down, so he gently rubbed his hands around the base of Gilbert's long slender neck. The skin on his neck seemed to be even more soft than the other parts of his body that Lovino had felt up. He had the sudden urge to taste it, so he shook that thought from his head and quickly moved down to Gilbert's chest. A faint blush appeared on his face as his hands glided over the chest muscles and the nipples. He heard a short giggle from Gilbert, so he adverted his attention to the abdomen. This was starting to get difficult, as the weird feeling began to appear.

He hurriedly rubbed some of the stuff over Gilbert's abs and down to his bellybutton. He wiped the excess lotion onto his own skin before putting the bottle back into their bag. He did so just before his heart began to race, causing him to get nervous. There was no way he'd let that feeling ruin his vacation!

"I-I'm done.." he said, looking away to hide his blush.

"Did ya have fun?" Gilbert asked, giving Lovino a wink.

Before Lovino could protest, and because he was already starting to get embarrassed, Feliciano and Ludwig reappeared out of nowhere.

"Brother, can we have snow cones? Can we? Please?" Feliciano begged, frantically pointing to the shaved ice stand near the sidewalk from which they had came.

"..Fine, just shut up afterwards," Lovino snarled, but he was secretly grateful to have his brother interrupt. He had no idea what would have happened once his embarrassed side took over.

* * *

><p>Going over to the stand, he bought each of them a snow cone. Although, he became irritated at how long it took them to decide what flavor they wanted. Gilbert even tried to get <em>all <em>of the flavors, so Lovino had to explain to him that it would turn into nothing but liquid sugar and the ice would cease to exist. After he complained for a couple minutes, he finally decided to just choose blueberry so that Lovino wouldn't whack him upside the head and refuse to buy him anything.

"Damn you guys, this wasn't supposed to be like buying a new car. Just choose a flavor and move the fuck on," he began to lecture, as they all went back to the big towel and sat down under the umbrella.

"What flavor did you get?" Gilbert asked, his face practically up against Lovino's as he observed the cool treat.

"Cherry. Now move your damn face!"

"Aw, I want cherry.." he frowned, steadily watching as Lovino ate his.

"You should've gotten cherry, then. Dumb ass.."

"But, I wanted blueberry even more. Let me taste yours!"

"Get your own!" Lovino yelled, but the jerk continued to bug him. Literally, nonstop. He eventually gave in and let Gilbert taste a spoon full.

"Mm.. mine is better. I hate cherries," Gilbert shrugged and went back to eating his.

"…Then why the fuck did you ask for some? !"

"Because I wanted to eat from yours."

Lovino deeply blushed as he tried to think up a counterattack. He soon gave up and finished his snow cone as he avoided looking towards Gilbert. How could he possibly relax today if this jerk keeps saying unnecessary things? By the end of the evening, he guessed that he would get that weird feeling again and have to miserably deal with it.

"Can we build a sandcastle?" Ludwig asked, breaking Lovino's train of thought.

"That's a good idea, Luddy!" Feliciano said, getting up from the towel and running down to the damp sand near the water.

The other three soon followed him and stood by, watching as he quickly drew something in the sand.

"Okay! I'm on Luddy's team. This is our area and that is yours," Feliciano explained, pointing to the other side of the square. "You guys have to work as a team to build a better sandcastle than us!"

"..This is stupid," Lovino sighed, rolling his eyes. But when he glanced towards the side that was supposed to be theirs, Gilbert was already strategizing.

"We're going to make the most awesome castle! King Gilbert and his loyal servant, Lovino, never back down from a challenge!" Gilbert yelled out excitedly, as he crouched down and began making random shapes.

"I'm not your damn servant, bastard!" Lovino hissed, but he was already helping to make the little castle.

It proved to be far more difficult than he originally had thought, as every shape he made came out the same. Even when he managed to make a good shape, it soon crashed to the ground. He supposed that the sand hated him, so he kicked it up into the air after cursing it to death.

"Lovi, calm down! We shall never give up!" Gilbert said.

"They're almost done with theirs anyway!" Lovino yelled, pointing to the younger boys who had already made a beautiful sculpture.

"You're right. At this rate, we'll never catch up. We need a new strategy.."

"How about you two help us finish?" Ludwig suggested, waving for them to come over.

"Well, that's less work," Lovino shrugged and quickly walked over to the other side.

"Nooo! My teammate! Some loyal servant you are.." Gilbert frowned, but got up and went to the other side as well.

After a few minutes and lots of team work, they had successfully sculpted a beautiful castle that attracted the attention of other random people who were visiting the beach. Feliciano ran back to their little spot to grab a camera to take many pictures.

"Alas, we have come to the end of our battle; and a fierce one it was! But, we overcame this burden, and worked as a team! My awesome idea prevails," Gilbert preached, as he did a victory pose.

"It was my idea.." Ludwig said, shaking his head as Feliciano finally returned with the camera.

"Grandpa Caesar will be so proud! I hope he comes back soon," Feliciano said, snapping random photos of every corner of their sculpture.

"I'm bored now, let's go swimming! I haven't been in the water yet," Gilbert said, pulling Lovino into the shivering waves of the ocean.

"Don't be so forceful, damn it!" Lovino cursed, but mainly at the cool water. Even though the fresh salt water felt good between his feet, it was the opposite of the hot sand on the shore. Still, that's what the beach was for! Having fun in the beautiful ocean and making sandcastles. Seeing Gilbert's soaking wet body again was icing on the cake. They playfully splashed each other for a long while before Gilbert decided to take a swim.

* * *

><p>"Hold on, I forgot the goggles!" he said, quickly running out of the water. It would be a horrid experience if any salt water got into his eyes.<p>

Lovino floated around in the water, enjoying the warm sun that sunk into his skin just as the water had. Jumping over the small waves was fun, and catching seaweed that wrapped around his legs were, too. His curiosity got the best of him when he decided to bite into one. It obviously didn't taste like the kind that people put on sushi. After spitting it out and tossing the weed aside, he patiently waited for Gilbert to return.

The only problem was, he didn't return. Lovino got fed up with waiting and looked up to see where the bastard had went. He finally caught a glimpse of the guy near the sidewalk. Lo and behold, he had been talking to a group of pretty girls in bikinis. A big scowl went across Lovino's face, washing away the previous happy expression that he had. He obviously couldn't tell what they were saying, being so far away; but who cares what they were saying! Gilbert was supposed to be with _him_, not them. He watched for a few more seconds before saying fuck it and going back to his floating.

_Stupid bastard, I hope their big breasts smother you!_

He continued to curse and wish absurd things. He figured that if Gilbert would rather be with a bunch of random broads, then so be it. He didn't need him! He could have fun on his own, and laugh about all the fun later! Yeah, and then the bastard would wish that he could have been apart of that fun. But it would be too late, and he would regret it all! It felt so good to be right, Lovino thought. As he got bored of floating, he tried to stand back up but realized that his feet couldn't touch the ground.

_Damn.. I've drifted too far out.._

He was about to try swimming back to shore, but it's not like anyone cared if something happened to him. Sure, he wasn't the best swimmer but he knew how to doggy paddle and whatnot. So if he was in any real danger, he would save himself. Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted when a shadow went over his head. Turning around he found that it was a big wave coming his way.

"Shit.." the wave instantly went over his head, throwing him under the water. The sudden force held him under the water for a few seconds before he emerged. Unfortunately for him, the after wave of the first one did the exact same thing. Only this time, it was completely unexpected and he had not gotten the chance to prepare himself. It crashed down upon his small body, sending him back under the surface and into the dark sea, holding him forcefully. Since he hadn't any time to catch his breath from the first wave, the second one caused him to panic as his lungs began to give out.

_Is this what it's like to die…?_

Was his last thought, before everything went blurry and he fell unconscious. All of a sudden, a light began to appear and he could feel a warm sensation on his skin that matched the feeling of the sun. His body felt light, as if he was floating. He assumed that he was dead and now God was going to send him to Hell for always being a grouchy child with a rotten mouth and a short temper. He was alright with that, at least he wouldn't have to deal with people anymore. People are so annoying, he continued to think.

_Voices..?_

Out of nowhere, he could hear the faint sounds of voices around him. Crap, just his luck. There were people in Hell, too! The voices began to get louder, and he could've sworn one of the voices kept repeating his name. The last thing he needed was to have to deal with another annoying bastard even after death.

"Damn it, Lovi.. breathe!"

Came one of the voices again, sounding awfully familiar. Lovino suddenly noticed something repeatedly pushing down on his chest, and something soft against his lips. He heard the sound of someone nearby crying, and instantly recognized that those sobs belonged to Feliciano. Oh no, his brother was crying! Anyone that makes his brother cry (besides himself) would be instantly labeled as a bastard in his mind! He wouldn't stand for this.

He fluttered his eyes open as he started to cough up excess sea water at the same time. It was sort of painful, but he could feel his lungs being filled up with oxygen again, which was a relief. Finally regaining his vision, he looked up to see Gilbert leaning over him. The German was intensely staring at him with the most worried expression that Lovino had ever seen before. Even his eyes were watery as if he was about to cry.

"What.. the hell are you looking at? Lovino managed to say after his lungs were free.

"Mein gott, Lovi!" Gilbert exclaimed, immediately wrapping his arms around Lovino's neck and squeezing him tightly.

"What are you doing so suddenly? !" Lovino yelled, blushing deeply as Gilbert refused to loosen his grip.

"You stupid idiot! Stupid stupid! Don't you know how scared I was? !" he yelled back, shaking Lovino by the shoulders.

"You were scared..?"

"Of course I was! I thought I'd fucking lost you! Are you hurt anywhere?" Gilbert examined Lovino's body up and down to make sure there weren't any serious injuries. "Feli, look! He's alright, stop crying now!"

Feliciano, who had still been crying his eyes out, finally paid attention and immediately jumped on Lovino to tightly hug him just as Gilbert had done.

"W-What happened?" Lovino asked, as he was still a bit unsure to what was going on.

"You idiot.. you went too far out into the water!" Gilbert explained, as he thumped Lovino on the forehead. "I saw the big wave that you disappeared under and rushed to save you.. you're lucky I paid attention in health class when they taught CPR! I sent Luddy to go get help."

And just as he had said, Ludwig appeared only a few seconds later with some staff from their nearby hotel and a couple paramedics. It seems like it took Lovino forever to convince them that he was alright now and to leave him alone, but they still did some weird procedures on him anyway. Not much longer afterwards, Caesar came back and Feliciano immediately blabbered to him about the incident. As Lovino expected, the older man pestered him about it just as the paramedics had. When he finally got him to shut up about it, they all went downstairs to the fancy restaurant of the hotel for dinner.

* * *

><p>All the while at dinner, nothing changed. Caesar went on to brag to people about how his 'son', Gilbert, was a hero. As much as it annoyed Lovino to stay on the subject of his near-death experience, he had to admit that it was true. If it weren't for Gilbert, he most likely would be dead right now. Sinking to the bottom of the sea to get eaten by sharks wasn't cool. Even so, he held onto his ignorance, thinking that if it also weren't for Gilbert, this would've never happened. Gilbert was the one who decided to ditch him for a buncha chicks, and he didn't deserve to be praised for something that he caused!<p>

"What..?" Lovino said, as he finally noticed that Gilbert had been staring at him the entire time he was eating.

"Nothing," he said, quickly going back to eating his own food.

After their meals, they went back to the suite and lounged around for awhile before each of them took showers. Lovino found it hard to relax in the hot water like he usually did, since water almost killed him only a few hours before. He cursed at the fact that he'd let something so stupid happen to himself. Now everyone continued to worry about him and Gilbert wouldn't stop acting weird after the incident. At least he knew the weird feeling wouldn't be returning that night.

Exiting the shower, he found that everyone had gone to bed except for Ludwig, who sat on the couch in the dining room. The younger German quickly looked up when he saw that Lovino had entered the room.

"Why aren't you asleep?" Lovino asked.

"I was just thinking about some things."

Lovino found it very awkward to talk to the boy nowadays. Before, he would just throw random insults or smart remarks. However, after he found out about his life situation and his relationship with Gilbert, Lovino couldn't find it in his heart to even hatefully glare at the kid anymore. That day in the hospital when they visited Old Fritz changed the way he looked at Ludwig. Seeing him with so much emotion and then going back to his nearly emotionless self was an odd experience that Lovino could never forget. He thought he'd try to break the ice just this once.

"Oh.. so, what were you thinking about?" he asked, trying not to sound awkward.

"Just my brother, is all."

The mention of Gilbert instantly got his full attention, "What about Gilbert?"

"I've just never seen that expression on his face before. The one he had when he was trying to save you," Ludwig said, tilting his head in confusion as he tried to figure out why it had been like that.

"Well, you know.. in situations like that, it's hard not to have such expressions..?"

"No, it wasn't just simply that. He always has a certain aura whenever he's around you. And, he always talks about you to me," Ludwig said, as he then glanced up at Lovino. "You two are so weird.. you really like him, don't you?"

"What the hell a-are you t-trying to say? !" Lovino stuttered, his face flashing red as his secrets were being unraveled.

"It's alright. I know he really likes you, too. We have to leave tomorrow, so goodnight," he said, as he nonchalantly got up from the couch and went into the bedroom where he shared a bed with Feliciano and Caesar slept in the other bed.

_What the fuck is wrong with that kid.._

Lovino sighed and walked back into the other room. He was glad to see that Gilbert was already asleep in one of the beds, so he climbed into the other one and stared at the ceiling, trying to forget what Ludwig had said to him. Almost dying must've sucked the energy out of him, because he almost fell asleep soon after that. What he didn't know, was that Gilbert had been awake the whole time.

"Lovi.." he called out, startling the boy, "What were you thinking, earlier today? You could've really died.."

"..It matters to you now, but it didn't matter to you then? I was simply not paying attention, while you were flirting with chicks," Lovino flatly said, frowning behind the sheets.

"Of course it matters to me! Anything and everything about you matters to me," Gilbert confessed, as he got out of the bed he was in and climbed into Lovino's, "You're retarded if you didn't know that."

"Watch who you're calling a retard, dumb ass!" he yelled, furiously blushing as Gilbert climbed into his bed and placed himself close; his face only inches from Lovino's.

"And you thought I was flirting with them? They asked for directions, I tried to help but they soon figured out I wasn't from around here, either… do you seriously think I hit on _every_ girl I pass?"

Lovino only looked away and embarrassingly nodded.

"Ouch! That's not a nice thing to say about your best friend. Besides, I'm into guys, too."

That last statement instantly made Lovino's heart race at the speed of light. He'd never considered that possibility before, and only felt jealous when Gilbert talked to girls. Now he wondered if he'd feel twice as much jealousy when Gilbert talked to guys! Even more so, since Gilbert sometimes hung out with Francis and Antonio. Now he'd have to watch those two bastards closely, so that he could protect his prize.

"Is that so?" he finally said, trying to sound cool.

"Ja. My first crush was a guy, but I picked on him a lot and he most likely hates me now. We never talk anymore, either.." Gilbert said, thinking how even if he hadn't picked on Roderich, the stupid nerd would have probably still chosen Lizzy over him anyway.

"..That's because you have horrible communication skills."

"Don't be a hypocrite," he smirked, poking Lovino's nose.

"Whatever! So… do you like anyone now?" Lovino nervously asked, his heart stopping as he waited for a reply.

"As if I'd tell you~" Gilbert teased, as he saw the desperation for an answer in Lovino's eyes.

Lovino was about to whine until Gilbert revealed his secret, but he decided that would be a horrible idea. If he were to find out who the German liked, he would definitely not be able to rest until he did something about it. And eliminating someone from this world was not something he could do so easily. So he accepted this torture of not knowing and did something else.

Leaning forward, he gently but quickly pecked Gilbert's lips before turning over in the bed to hide his dark red face.

"What was that for..?" Gilbert asked, blushing as he touched his lips where Lovino had just planted a sweet kiss.

"F-For saving m-my life.. Duh."

Gilbert widely grinned as he wrapped his arms around Lovino and pulled him closely.

"I guess we're even now. Since you saved my life that night at that party."

Lovino slightly nodded as he closed his eyes to fall asleep, warmly in the arms of both his first love and his savior.

_Yeah.. I guess we're even._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So I think 1 or 2 more chapters left now. I have only 75% completion of the idea of how this'll end.. Yay brainstorming! Thanks to whomever is still reading this.**


	10. Christmas Miracle

**A/N: And this, is the last chapter! I hope it's alright. I tried my bestestest, I guess. I hope you shall enjoy it, and thanks for the kind reviews that encouraged me so greatly!**

* * *

><p>Sleeping peacefully in his warm bed, Lovino faintly smiled to himself as he dreamed of his best friend, Gilbert. Whenever he dreamed, which was not often, it was usually a nightmare. However, once in awhile he would dream of Gilbert whenever he was excited to see the albino the next day. It was hard not to think about him every night before he went to sleep. Whether he was angry at him, disappointed, happy, or worried; it didn't matter. If he thought about the guy before bed, it would mean there's a 90% chance of having a dream about him. He obviously didn't mind it, except when he would have weird dreams of them being rather.. sensual together. But this time, it was an very good dream and he was happy to see Gilbert's smiling face.<p>

Unfortunately, it was all ruined when an evil spirit decided to awaken him from this heavenly dream.

"Brother! Hey! It's the day before Christmas Eve! That means.. it's Christmas Eve EVE! WAKE UP!" Feliciano practically screamed, as he jumped up and down on Lovino's bed.

_I'll fucking kill him.. I will._

Lovino's eyes darted open as he evily glared at his nuisance of a brother. He loved his brother to death, but right now he hated him more than anyone in the world. And as usual, Feliciano ignored the scowl on Lovino's face and continued to be a bother.

"Why.. Feli? Why do you insist on doing this to me?" Lovino groaned, as he sat up in bed.

"Because, we have to start our day! This is going to be so fun," Feliciano exclaimed, jumping from the bed and quickly running down the stairs.

Looking around the room, Lovino could tell that it was around 10 or 11 in the morning, but he felt so comfortable and warm in his bed that he didn't want to start his day. He lazily sat on the edge of his bed, the cold winter weather instantly stinging at his legs and feet. A grouchy whine escaped his mouth as he slowly walked to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. Mornings weren't his favorite, obviously; especially winter mornings.

He picked up his pace as he walked downstairs, the wonderful aroma of freshly made breakfast calling out to him. Both Caesar and Feliciano smiled at him as he joined them at the table at began to devour his bread covered in jam, and chugged down some coffee. He felt sort of happy that he could enjoy an average morning with his little family. With Christmas only a couple days away, everything must be perfect or else he'd be severely disappointed. He continuously glanced at their big, decorated Christmas tree in the living room that held dozens of gifts under it.

"Ve~ did you know? If you kiss the one you love on Christmas Day, you'll be granted a Christmas miracle!" Feliciano randomly said, after finishing his food.

"Bullshit," Lovino instantly responded, rolling his eyes. Although, his mind suddenly adverted to Gilbert.

"Ometto.." Caesar said, smiling as he shook his head, "Is that so, Feli? What if you love more than one person?"

Feliciano thought for a second before shrugging, "Well, I don't know. Sucks to be that person, though."

Caesar frowned and cursed the stupid 'miracle' just as Lovino had done. Just because he wasn't going to save all his love for 1 woman, doesn't mean he shouldn't be granted a wish. In fact, it's selfish to let only a single person get a taste of your love! No one should be that selfish, and the person who gives the most love to the most people deserves all the miracles in the world! Yeah, his grandson must have gotten the story, rumor, myth or whatever the hell it was, wrong.

"Well it's true! The book I read said so!" Feliciano pouted very childishly, as he got up to sit on the couch.

"…Don't tell me you're going to try it," Lovino said, sending a very disapproving glare to the optimistic younger Italian.

Feliciano only smiled brightly and began to watch TV, secretly strategizing how he would capture Ludwig's lips.

"So, you two are going to the carnival tonight, right?" Caesar asked.

"..Si!" Lovino suddenly blurted out, as he remembered all about the winter carnival held every year before Christmas Eve.

In fact, that was the whole reason he had gone to bed very excited the night before. Although the stupid event was packed as hell because it only lasted for 3 days, he was happy that Gilbert agreed to join them. They would spend lots of time riding on the rides, eating junk, drinking hot cocoa to stay warm, and whatever else there was to do at the place. Now, he would impatiently go about his day until the early evening when they would meet.

"Come on.. come on, damn it.." Lovino intensely stared at the clock in the kitchen, waiting for it to turn into the magical numbers of 8:00. He had paced around all day, even going so far as to shovel some of the snow in front of the driveway to waste time. Then instead of being followed around by Feliciano, _he _was the one doing the following. It had started to make the younger Italian a little uneasy. Now it was a battle against time!

"You know.. we can just leave right now. It'll take at least 10 minutes to get there," Caesar suggested, as he and Feliciano had already started walking towards the front door.

"I-I knew that!" Lovino blushed, before following them and eagerly hopping into the car.

* * *

><p>After being very disappointed that the drive took a total of 17 minutes, Lovino hurriedly ran towards the entrance. People were already inside, being as it opened at exactly 8pm. He watched as Feliciano met up with Ludwig and begged Caesar to take them to play some of the games.<p>

"You coming, ometto?" Caesar asked, looking towards Lovino.

"No, go ahead. I'm waiting.." Lovino answered, only paying half attention as he looked through the huge crowds. He desperately searched around for a figure with messy white hair and pale skin, hoping to meet with those gleaming red eyes. He almost gave up completely when suddenly his vision became pitch black and he felt a pair of hands covering his eyes.

"Guess who?" whispered a voice from behind him.

Lovino struggled for a second before hearing the voice and getting his hopes up again, but instantly became angry when he turned around and saw Gilbert's smirking face.

"You're late, bastard!" he yelled, frowning as Gilbert patted his head.

"My bad. I found a rare sword with an even rarer enchant on it. Then me and my buddies tested it out in a duel for awhile, that baby sure is powerful," he casually explained.

Lovino only stared at him in confusion for a few seconds before realizing that he was talking about WoW. But, because it was supposed to be an exciting night, he resisted the urge he had to do something horrific to the jerk. Instead, he decided he'd make Gilbert buy whatever he wanted for him tonight.

"What the fuck ever. Let's go! We're missing out on all the damn fun!" Lovino yelled, grabbing Gilbert by the collar and dragging him through the gates that led to the carnival.

Inside, Lovino gasped at all of the people that roamed around the whole damn place. It was almost as if the entire city decided to come to the carnival. Sure, it was the first night it opened, but this wasn't going to be pretty. If they wanted to ride on some of the bigger and awesome rides, it would probably take an hour of standing in line, from the looks of it. Even the smaller games where you win prizes were full of people failing to win them. The snack bars of different types of foods also had many people, but not as much considering the fact that carnival food was rather expensive. Suddenly, he noticed that he was alone in this vast amount of bastards.

"Gilbert?" he said, looking around for the albino who seemed to be no where in sight now.

_Fuck._

He hated being alone, but even more so, he hated being lost. He suddenly started to feel the way he did when they couldn't find his group and classmates on that field trip to the museum earlier that year. He felt the need to scream out for help.

"Lovi, fucking pay attention," Gilbert said, as he came out of nowhere. He wore a frown as it seemed he'd been looking for Lovino, too.

"You walk too damn fast!" Lovino yelled, almost teary eyed. But he was so relieved to see Gilbert that he only stood there.

"There's so many people here," Gilbert squinted as he stood on his tippy-toes to look past the huge crowd. "We'll have to hold hands so we don't lose each other."

Before Lovino could question it, Gilbert tightly grabbed onto his hand and led him into the crowd of people. He deeply blushed at the touch of Gilbert's strong but soft hands. Even though it was cold as hell outside, it was like his hand harbored its own warmth. This was already fun, even if they hadn't done anything yet, Lovino felt like he was having the time of his life. He had to repeatedly tell himself that this was just a fun night with a friend. A friend that he'd kissed more than once, slept with dozens of times, and was obviously attracted to no matter how many times he tried to deny it to himself.

_This isn't a date. This isn't a date. It's not, seriously. It's not a damn date!_

They walked around for a couple minutes before Gilbert suddenly halted, causing Lovino to bump into him, as he was still being dragged along.

"What the hell are you doing?" he frowned, rubbing his forehead.

"What.. what is that stuff? !" Gilbert sputtered out, quickly pointing to a nearby stand.

"Cotton candy..?" Lovino said, as Gilbert suddenly pulled him along to the stand filled with many different of the soft candy.

"Why does it look so…SOFT?" by now, the German's eyes had widened greatly as he stared in amazement at the sugary treat.

_Seriously?_

It was plain to see that apparently, Gilbert had never had cotton candy before. Or rather, he'd never even seen it before. For some reason, that fact made Lovino feel a little sad inside. Come on, everyone has had cotton candy at least once in their life time, right? Or at least heard of it and seen it? Nonetheless, Gilbert continued to stare at the mysterious object and watched the people around him that ate it, enjoying every bite. He knew that he had to buy it for the poor guy, he just had to!

"Gilbert, what color do you want?" Lovino said, standing at the front of the line.

"I can choose any color?" he gasped in surprise, his eyes frantically looking from one flavor to the next.

"Yeah, so choose one. We can't hold up the damn line."

"Then.. that one!" Gilbert excitedly pointed to the one with three different colors. Blue at the top, yellow in the middle, and pink at the bottom.

After Lovino bought the treat for the frantic guy, he stared at it for awhile, examining the softness and wondering how the hell it was supposed to be eaten. Lovino couldn't help but laugh, Gilbert looked so damn cute when he was clueless like that about something so simple. He watched in amusement as Gilbert picked at the treat and tried to wear some of it as a mustache.

"Idiot, you eat it like this," Lovino said, leaning forward and softly biting into the cotton candy.

"How is that possible?" Gilbert titled his head and hesitated for a bit before biting into it as well. He almost freaked out when it instantly melted into his mouth. It was so sweet, he quickly bit another piece of it and watched as it melted onto his tongue.

"It's 'awesome', right?" Lovino asked, a faint smile appearing on his face.

Gilbert quickly nodded as Lovino pulled him along to do more things. They managed to get on a few small rides, like the bumper cars where Gilbert totally owned Lovino up against a wall and laughed as the Italian cursed at him. They went on the teacups ride, and Lovino almost puked as Gilbert dramatically spun the damn thing out of control. He thought it was so much fun, but Lovino had a headache afterwards that lasted at least 20 minutes. To calm his painful ache that he continuously blamed Gilbert for, they stayed off of the rides for awhile and played games instead.

* * *

><p>"I want to play that game," Gilbert said, pointing to a stand filled with many different stuffed animals as prizes. Who doesn't love big stuffed animals? They're far too cuddly to pass up! He was sure to win this game with his awesomeness.<p>

"I don't think so. These games make it look so easy, so you almost win every time. _Almost_. And you keep trying until you're out of money without any prizes whatsoever," he tried to explain the way he saw it all. But Gilbert didn't seem to give a shit.

"Lovi, it's a damn carnival. You're supposed to spend cash and have fun until you wake up with a hangover!" Gilbert said, pulling Lovino over to the game anyway.

"Dumb ass.. I've warned you."

"So, all I have to do is throw the ball into the big circle?" Gilbert said, as the guy running stand explained the rules.

"One try. And then we're moving on," Lovino said, he knew that if they kept trying, Gilbert would end up broke. Gilbert pretty much never gave up anything, especially when it came to games. He always wanted to prove that he was the best, even when it truly didn't matter.

"I got this! My awesomeness will not fail."

"And if it does?"

"It won't. But if by any chance it ever does, I'll need a Christmas miracle!" Gilbert laughed, as he then focused his aim.

"A.. Christmas miracle?" Lovino asked, as he remembered Feliciano mentioning something like this earlier that morning. And sure enough, Gilbert succeeded in winning on his first try.

"What did I say? Pure awesome!" Gilbert smirked, picking up his large prize that he chose.

"Pure luck. And, I didn't know you liked Polar bears."

"I prefer pandas. This isn't for me, though. It's for you," he said, shoving the big stuffed bear into Lovino's arms.

Lovino's face flushed red as he clutched the gift and tried to register in his mind what had just happened. Before he could start thinking of a way to say thank you without sounding weird, Gilbert grabbed his arm and began pulling him into another direction.

"We're going on that next! It's a ride but it's slow so your headache won't come back," he said, pointing to the ferris wheel in the direction he was dragging Lovino to.

The line wasn't so long, so they almost immediately got their turn to board the tall ride. Lovino tightly held onto his special bear given to him by his very special person as they started to go higher up above the ground. Looking up, it was as if they could touch the cold, starry night sky. But looking down, Lovino felt a pain in his stomach for being up so high. All the while, Gilbert sat there and relaxed as if being a million feet in the air was normal for him. Once they reached the top, the ride stopped.

Suddenly, Lovino remembered a very similar scenario in one of the romance novels he had read before. The main character confessed his love to his girlfriend when they reached the very top of the ride and then made out and lived happily ever after or some crap like that. It was just a stupid book, so why was his heart racing so fast right now? He began to feel hopeless, getting so flustered over something so silly like this. Only girls get flustered so easily! Well, that's what he told himself. Girls were so cute, especially when they blushed. He had only been able to make a girl blush maybe one time, and that was because he ran out of the house with only boxers on.

_Why the hell am I thinking about this.._

He forgot how his thoughts had suddenly ended up on embarrassing memories of the past. But he wondered, had Gilbert ever been able to make a girl blush before? And on purpose? Surely not, the bastard tried to act cool but he was really just a goofy, egotistical guy. Still, there were many times Gilbert had made him blush. Even now, he was blushing a little. So it wasn't impossible that Gilbert had made others blush, too. It somehow led him to asking the following question.

"Hey, Gilbert?" he began, as Gilbert only tilted his head as if to say he was listening. "Would you like me more if I was a girl?"

The sudden question gained Gilbert's full attention as he quickly glanced towards Lovino and raised one eyebrow.

"What?"

"It's a yes or no question, so just answer it."

"…Well, I'd still like you the same even if you were a girl, guy, dog, cat, bird, fish, panda.." he began to list even more obscure things before eventually saying, "But if you were some of those things, we wouldn't be able to talk anymore.. that'd make me sad. Unless, we did some sort of magic trick so you could speak the human language! And then-"

"Alright, damn! I get it. I was just asking about that one thing," Lovino said, getting a bit irritated.

"..If you're thinking about getting a sex change, I'd say you're perfect the way you are right now."

"I WASN'T THINKING THAT!" he yelled, furiously shaking his head at the horrid thought. "B-But! Um.. t-thanks, I guess.."

"You're still so weird, tomato face," Gilbert teased, as he went back to staring into the beautiful night sky.

"How about.. well, would you consider dating me no matter if I was a guy or a girl? !" Lovino blurted out the second part of that question as he quickly looked down.

"W-Well… yeah, I mean.. as long as you're still yourself, Lovino Vargas, who cares about the rest?" Gilbert tried to explain, as he scratched his head.

"Oh.. alright, then," Lovino said, staring in awe at the red-faced guy next to him.

"What are you staring at..?"

"Nothing in particular. It's just, you're blushing."

"N-No I'm not! The Awesome Gilbert never gets flustered!" he yelled, turning his face around to try and hide the fact that he was growing redder by the second.

"Don't lie. You're so blushing right now," Lovino continued to tease, as he leaned closer to the embarrassed German.

Gilbert turned back around and thought he almost fell off of the ride when he realized how close Lovino's face was to his now. He decided that he wouldn't let the teasing Italian win! No matter what! He needed to proclaim his championship title!

"Are you trying to tease _me_, the master of teasing?"

"Maybe."

"Well then! We'll make this a challenge, Lovino the _beginner_," he smirked, gently brushing Lovino's bangs out of his eyes and then flirtatiously lifting his chin with one finger.

Lovino could feel his face darkening red now, and his whole body burning. He didn't care, though. In fact, he wasn't even trying to win this little challenge Gilbert had announced. He only continued to deeply stare into those gleaming red eyes. It was as if they were trapping his soul, for he would do anything that they told him to do right about now. However, right now, there was only one thing he wanted to do. He adverted his gaze to Gilbert's soft lips and wanted to immediately seize them. He didn't care how or why, he just knew he _needed_ them. They were calling out to him, he told himself. Even if his mind was playing tricks on him, who cares? He was going to get what he wanted even if it killed him.

"Lovi..?" Gilbert said, as he noticed that Lovino's face was inching closer to his own. He didn't even think about stopping the boy, though. Whatever Lovino was going to do to him, he knew he'd probably like it a lot.

Unfortunately for the two hungry souls, the ferris wheel began to move along again with a sudden jolt. It was so surprising that they accidentally bumped heads. Lovino's headache was now back, with the addition of throbbing external pain from bumping into Gilbert's noggin. What seemed like a long while of sitting together at the top of the wheel was in actuality, only about 5 minutes. Once they exited that tragic ride, and feeling highly embarrassed, they decided to search for the others until it was time to go home.

* * *

><p>Lovino tossed and turned in bed that night, thinking of how close he was to tasting Gilbert's lips again. He was a little ashamed to admit it to himself at first, but he dropped that thought and decided he would definitely try again the next day on Christmas Eve, during the little party that they were invited to. Originally, he was going to simply skip this because he had heard Francis was hosting it but now this would be his battle zone.<p>

_We're doing this whether you want to or not._

On Christmas Eve, Feliciano annoyingly woke him up the same way as the morning before. After his morning grouchiness disappeared, Lovino prepared himself for his plan and the party. He wrapped Gilbert's gift that he planned to give to him later that evening in cute little wrapping paper and a fancy bow. After screwing around for awhile, he asked Caesar to drop him off to the party location and prayed it wouldn't be like the last party he went to with Gilbert. Thankfully, everyone there was pretty classy and mature. Aside from not knowing many people there, it was actually kind of fun. Well, the food was fun. Lovino stuffed his face with different cuisines most of the time. But hey! It was free! He stopped once he noticed that a certain target had arrived.

"Welcome, Gilly!" Francis said, practically running over and squeezing the German before Lovino could even make a move.

"Yo, the party can start now that the awesome is here," Gilbert snorted, finally pushing Francis off of him. But, once again, he was intercepted by a big hug from Antonio.

"Amigo! Merry Christmas Eve. Although you're so late.. anyways, we're about to play a game!" Antonio said.

Lovino sighed and turned back around, focusing on the delicious food.

"Boo~" Gilbert said, poking Lovino in the back. Even though he had arrived like 30 minutes ago, he continued to get interrupted and hadn't been able to talk to Lovino yet.

"What do you want, bastard?" Lovino snarled, annoyed at how practically everyone at the party continued to hog Gilbert as if he was some sort of trophy that everybody suddenly wanted.

"How lovely. Can't you at least smile today? It's Christmas Eve!" Gilbert smiled and voluntarily took the snack out of Lovino's hand and ate it.

"I was eating that!" he yelled, blushing a bit as he watched Gilbert slowly lick the chocolate off one of his fingers. The bastard must have been doing it on purpose! Who licks themselves like that?

"You've eaten enough. Now come on, this party isn't as awesome if you don't participate in the activities with me," Gilbert said, grabbing Lovino's wrist and pulling him to the other room with the others.

They all played a few random games that Lovino didn't really give a shit about. But, seeing as Gilbert was happy, he didn't mind joining in the fun. After awhile, Lovino had forgotten why he had come to the party in the first place. Oh well, it was still a nice experience to be able to hang with other people and Gilbert at the same time, without getting mega pissed off.

"Here," Gilbert said, as he handed a glass to Lovino.

"What is this?" he asked, as he sniffed the drink. It smelt like apples.

"Champagne."

"..We can't have this shit! We're all 17 and 18," Lovino hissed, about to snatch Gilbert's glass away, too.

"I was only joking. Damn, take a joke! It's apple cider, but we can pretend it's champagne. Let's make a toast to something."

"Fine. How about.. a toast to fixing your face?"

"Very funny, you're a comedian. But I think you love my face the way it is, considering you've been staring at it all day. How about a toast to an awesome next year?" Gilbert suggested, raising his glass.

Lovino only blushed and agreed, raising his glass up to Gilbert's. Suddenly, he remembered a very important detail.

"Wait," he said, rummaging through his coat pocket that hung on the racket. He pulled out his Christmas gift and quickly handed it to Gilbert. He nervously gulped as Gilbert opened it and almost wished he'd done it later when he wasn't standing there, watching him.

"No fucking way… a Nintendo 3DS? 3D!" Gilbert gasped and rubbed the game system's box against his cheek, before hugging it tightly and even kissing it.

"Yeah um.. I remember you saying a few months ago that you wanted one but would never be able to afford it and.. well, I know Grandpa Caesar got me one, too. He can't keep a secret. So.. now I'll have someone to play with and teach me?" was Lovino's long explanation as he looked down at the floor instead of at the happy German in front of him.

"Hmph. Are you trying to upstage me? Now my gift for you won't seem as awesome.." Gilbert childishly frowned as he took a small box out of his pocket with a cute bow on it and handed it to Lovino.

Lovino embarrassingly turned around and hurriedly unwrapped it to reveal a shiny silver necklace with a tomato on it that was made out of small red and green gems. It looked rather expensive, and it was adorable as hell; probably even custom made.

The little Italian was completely speechless as Gilbert reached over and grabbed it from his hands, then put it around his neck for him. Lovino playfully rubbed the beautiful tomato in between his index and thumb fingers as he wished he had a mirror right now. There was no way he'd go to the bathroom in Francis' house for _anything._

"So yeah. I didn't know if you would have liked that or not-"

"I love it," Lovino suddenly blurted out, deeply blushing. "Thank you.."

Their little moment was sort of ruined when other people began to walk into the room, laughing and chatting. Lovino sighed as Francis randomly called him over. He was sure it was going to be something really stupid, but he went over there anyway. After all, it was _his_ house. And Lovino practically ate all of the food earlier, so whatever.

"Lovi~ you should go under the mistletoe with me," Francis said, chuckling as if he was actually drunk from the weak apple cider.

"Fuck no!" Lovino scowled, as the annoying bastard was wasting his time.

"Aw. I bet if I was Gilbert you would've jumped under the mistletoe by now," Francis smirked, not even trying to be a little quiet as their were people around, even Gilbert.

"I.. he.. j-just shut the hell up!" Lovino was about to rip the frenchie's hair out when he noticed Gilbert was leaving.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Lovino asked, as he ran over to the albino and stopped him in the hallway.

"I have to go early, well it's not early anymore.. but, tomorrow I have to go to my foster's house."

"Why?"

"Well it's Christmas tomorrow, so it's only natural I have to go back there for a bit. We just pretend to be a happy family while some of their relatives come by and we eat dinner and crap like that. I could always ditch but I'm not leaving Ludwig like that," Gilbert explained, sighing as he didn't want to even see his foster parents faces, let alone spend a day with them. Especially Christmas; but he'd been doing this for the past year so it was normal.

"So you mean.. I won't get to see you tomorrow?" Lovino tried not to frown or look depressed as he felt, but his eyes showed it all.

"Sure you can! It'll only last a few hours, I think. Then me and Luddy can go to your place and we can all play with our new stuff!" he said excitedly, wanting to play his new portable system so badly right now.

"Well, I guess I'll allow you two bastards to come over," Lovino snorted, looking up as he pretended to be in thought. Though he didn't know, looking up was a bad idea.

Right above their heads was the mistletoe Francis had talked about only a couple minutes ago. A first, Lovino panicked. He didn't want Gilbert to think that he had stopped him just as he was under the stupid little thing, so that they'd have to kiss. He considered not saying anything or looking worried, that way they wouldn't have to do something so embarrassing at someone else's house. He then remembered that last night he had the complete intention of kissing Gilbert today.

_Shit.. what was I thinking?_

He figured that he must've been severely affected by the weird feeling, if he was going to purposely kiss Gilbert today. Now that he actually had the chance, he wasn't ready at all. This fact was obviously showing, as Gilbert noticed Lovino was suddenly fidgeting after he looked up to the ceiling. So, Gilbert decided to see why the hell the younger boy was acting so weird randomly.

"Ah.." Gilbert said, once he'd seen the mistletoe.

_Nononono! Don't look at it…_

Lovino screamed inside of his head, as Gilbert looked back down and only mischievously smiled at him. Thus, his nervousness caused him to sputter out nonsense.

"It's probably just decoration.. I mean! It's not real and.. well, you.. me.. damn it! The rules state that once a man and a woman come together under a mistletoe-" but he shut up once Gilbert suddenly wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him so closely, Lovino thought their bodies had merged.

"I don't give a shit what it says," Gilbert smirked, brushing his hand against Lovino's cheek.

Lovino could've sworn he was having a heart attack, or that this wasn't reality. Yeah, it couldn't have been reality! Gilbert doesn't usually at like this, and there's no way he would willingly kiss Lovino.

Just before their lips touched, Gilbert unexpectedly kissed him lightly on the cheek, before letting him go and smiling.

"Huh? That.. you cheated! That wasn't a real kiss, damn it!" Lovino loudly whispered as he didn't want the people in the other room to here.

"Like I said, I don't care~ Maybe next time I'll give you an awesome treat you can't resist," Gilbert smirked before quickly waving goodbye and leaving the home.

…_Fucking tease!_

* * *

><p>The next day, after opening their presents and cleaning up the house, the Italians had many different relatives that visited their home. Besides the way they looked, nothing was new. They all continuously praised Feliciano for every little thing he did, while they only smiled once in awhile at Lovino before going back to doing something else. He loved his family, but sometimes he seriously wanted them all to go to hell. Sure, it's true his younger brother had a contagious smile, cute face and was super sweet. That didn't give them the right to call him their 'favorite nephew, cousin' and whatnot.<p>

Even though these facts usually bothered Lovino every Christmas to the point where he'd caused them all to go home from his tantrums, this year he didn't really even care that much. The only person who he wanted to be accepted and treated fairly by was Gilbert. It's too bad Gilbert had to spend his Christmas with evil bastards, too. The German had sent him a text message earlier that morning, asking him to wish him luck. Lovino did just that, and hoped this would end faster so that they could spend Christmas together. But, after that, Gilbert never sent him another message or even a voicemail. Lovino had tried to contact him all day, but it seemed he must've still been dealing with the demons at their home.

"What's the matter, brother?" Feliciano asked, as he'd suddenly appeared on the balcony where Lovino was in an intense train of thought.

"Nothing. I'm just bored as fuck.. hey, can I ask your opinion of something?"

"Sure!" Feliciano smiled cheerfully, as Lovino never really asked him for anything.

"Is it.. bad to want to spend your Christmas with someone else instead of your family?"

Feliciano thought for a few seconds before shaking his head, "Nope! I'd say, spending Christmas with anyone that you love is the perfect Christmas ever! It shouldn't matter if they are blood related or not."

"I suppose that makes sense.. thanks," Lovino smiled shortly before running off to get his cell phone, and trying to contact Gilbert one more time before sunset. Finally, he replied.

"Gilbert!" Lovino called out, as he'd finally made it to the meeting spot at the pond that Gilbert chose.

"Hey, Lovi."

"Um.. Merry Christmas," Lovino blushed, as he handed the guy a big warm cookie with Christmas colors on them.

"Thanks.. it's good," Gilbert said, biting into the warm treat.

"Where's your brother? Aren't you guys coming to our place now that you're done for today?" Lovino asked, looking around for any signs of Ludwig.

"That's.. actually what I wanted to talk to you about, now that you're here," he said, the tone is his voice sounding very different from the previous two days.

"You don't want to come over..?"

"I do! It's just…" Gilbert stopped and rubbed his head to think of the words before continuing, "The foster bastards have decided to move to a more rural place at the end of next month.. they've given me the choice to either go with them or stay here, living on my own like I have been for the past year. Only problem is, who knows how long it'll be before I get to see Luddy again, if I stay.."

Lovino hadn't completely registered in his brain the big explanation that Gilbert had just given him. He waited for the albino to continue explaining, but he stayed quiet and continued to stare into the icy pond.

"What.." was all Lovino could say, as his mind was failing him.

"It means I stay here and only be able to see my brother once in a very long while, or I leave this place and sacrifice being with you!" Gilbert blurted out, as his voice began to quiver at the thought.

In these type of situations, what would one do? They would go down the more sensible road, right? Isn't it obvious to choose the one you've been protecting all your life, instead of the one you've only been close to for half a year or so? Lovino knew it was an easy choice to make, so why was Gilbert making it so difficult? All he needed was a push.

"Gilbert, go with your brother, obviously. Don't worry about me, I have my own things to take care of."

"But, it's not fair! He's my brother, and you're my.."

"I said just fucking go with them! He needs you more.. even though you'll have to put up with them, you should be able to sacrifice anything for your family. That includes me," Lovino said, trying to keep his voice from shaking as much as his body was. He continued to look at the ground before walking over to the stunned German and wrapping his arms around Gilbert's waist.

"Ti.. ti amo.." Lovino whispered, biting his bottom lips as hard as he could.

"What..?" Gilbert finally responded, as if he'd just been knocked out of a trance.

"It means.. I love you, stupid bastard!" pulling Gilbert down by his shirt, Lovino smashed their lips together in a heated kiss that seemed to last forever. Sadly, nothing lasts forever, Lovino learned. He had to use all the force in the world to pull himself away and quickly dash off as his eyes began to let loose the waterfall of tears he'd been desperately holding in.

* * *

><p>Lovino felt as if both his head and his heart had exploded. He couldn't remember when he had returned home, how he had done it, why he was lying on his bed that was now soaking wet from tears; nothing. The only thing he could remember was the kiss he'd been thriving for these past couple days. He'd finally got it this afternoon, but for what? It's not like Gilbert liked him that way, anyway. And even if by chance he did, it's over now.<p>

_Why would he possibly choose me?_

That's right, he wouldn't. No one would. When it came to Lovino vs. anything else, the other side would win. No one wanted to be bothered with him, he was too much of a killjoy. He'd even gained so much pity from Gilbert over this past year, it was pathetic. He had no reason to be depressed, after all, friends move away all the time! It's nothing new to anyone. You enjoy their stay and when they're gone, you say goodbye and move on.

_We were just friends, after all.._

Lovino could always make a new friend that would pity him just as much. Then that friend would one day have to leave him, too. That is, if he didn't drive them away first. This is all true, so why couldn't he stop crying? Gilbert was just his friend. They were friends who took care of each other. They laughed together, argued, made up, comforted, saved one another; everything. Gilbert was someone who he will never be able to forget even if he wanted to. It wasn't just in admiration, friendship, or respect, though.

Lovino loved Gilbert more than anyone else in the entire world. He couldn't go a single day without hearing from the German, and he couldn't go too many days without seeing him. It was as if his life had slowly started to include Gilbert in every way. He didn't know when he had first started to feel this way, but it felt so natural after awhile to be by his side. He wanted to feel that warmth he felt whenever they would sleep together. He wanted to watch Gilbert do crazy things and laugh together about it later. He wanted to be held in those arms and to feel those lips against his own.

_Why did you do this to me?_

Lovino began to hate the fact that he was so in love, it was too painful. How and when did Gilbert cast this spell on him? It was too much for his little heart to bear. Perhaps this was punishment for always complaining about life when he had nothing to complain about. Now he did, however. He could complain about how he learned to love but got it taken from him. And of all people to fall so deeply in love with, it was the very person he had hated the most. He couldn't even remember how he was able to hate Gilbert so much back then. Maybe if he hadn't of tried to fight back and instead tried to understand faster, things may have turned out differently…

"Ometto, we're going out to the New Years Eve parade, are you sure you don't want to come with us?" came a familiar voice that belonged to Caesar outside of his door.

"…Just go," Lovino lazily said, as he sat up from his bed. He listened to the footsteps descending the stairway and out of the front door, before closing and locking it.

He got up from his bed and walked over to his calendar. Turns out it was in fact New Years Eve. Well, soon it would be New Years day. It was around 10:30 at night and Feliciano and Caesar went to the New Years Eve parade to participate in the countdown. Lovino had forgotten all about the parade, and pretty much everything else. He'd only been depressingly living in his room for the past 6 days and barely eating. He was sure his grandfather and sibling tried to ask him what was wrong many times, but he probably shooed them off grouchily.

He glanced down at his phone and didn't dare to pick it up and check for messages. He decided to get his mind off of anything Gilbert related by cleaning his messy room. Who knew a room could get so disastrous in only 6 days? After he finished, he tried to look for something else to do fast before the waterworks would start again. Suddenly, he heard faint knocks on his window. He paused, thinking maybe a burglar was trying to break in! After all, he was the only one home and it was New Years Eve. People do crazy shit during this time. That didn't make sense, though. How would they be able to reach his second-floor window?

He slowly went over to the window before pulling up the curtains and looking down. Now he really wish he hadn't done that. It appeared that Gilbert had been throwing small rocks at his window to get his attention.

_Great. Just fucking great._

Now Lovino was having delusions of seeing the bastard outside of his home! What else could possibly go wrong? Who knows, but Lovino was tired of this. He wanted to be left alone, so he opened his window and decided to tell that delusion to fuck off. Before he could say so, the delusion decided to speak first.

"Finally you open the window. Hold on, I'm coming up!" said the seemingly delusion that disguised itself as Gilbert.

Lovino watched as Gilbert began to climb up the vines that lead up the side of the house and past his window.

"What the fuck are you doing? That's dangerous! Stupid delusion!" he yelled, wondering how the hell it was actually talking back to him.

"Shut up, you'll wake the neighbors!" Gilbert loudly whispered as he finally made his way to the window. He hoisted himself and entered the room, smiling at Lovino.

"..I don't know how you did that, but stop fucking with me! You're not real," Lovino said, sounding more deranged than ever. Gilbert only raised one eyebrow at him for a few seconds before speaking.

"I am real, I'm the Awesome Gilbert! And this is real, too," he said, suddenly grabbing Lovino by the waist and pulling him into a passionate kiss.

Lovino submitted pretty quickly, before something in his brain told him that this was wrong. He managed to push Gilbert away from him before it would go any further.

"No… w-why? Why did you do that..?" he asked, as he tried to distant himself from the German.

"Because I like you that way?" Gilbert answered, looking as if he thought Lovino had already known that. "I've always liked you, that's why I used to pick on you, to get your attention." He then proceeded to close the distance between him and Lovino.

"NO! Don't.. don't just do and say such things if you're just going to leave me!" Lovino cried out, stopping Gilbert in his tracks. "You bastard! It would've been easier.. if you had just left next month without returning my feelings!"

"But Lovi, I'm not leaving you!"

"What..?"

"I'm staying here, of course. What's the point of going anywhere without the one who makes me happy the most?" he said, slowly inching his way towards the wide-eyed Italian.

"B-But! You can't! What about Ludwig? You're going to leave him for _me_? You can't do that, dumb ass!"

"Who says it has to be one or the other? I'll be 18 in the middle of next month, and they're moving at the end of next month. So I'll be old enough to take care of him myself."

"..Just because you're old enough doesn't mean everything will be peachy, dandy, and perfect! You can barely take care of yourself! How are you supposed to take care of anyone else? !" the tears from Lovino's eyes began to leak out onto his face and down his cheeks as he couldn't believe how reckless Gilbert was being.

"Luddy is mature enough to take care of himself, he's been doing it ever since Old Fritz first became sick! Those foster bastards never did anything for him. Besides, they told me that I could do whatever I want, and this is what I want," Gilbert said, as he had somehow made his way across the room to Lovino and now had the Italian wrapped in his arms.

"Still.. how can this work? You don't know for sure, damn it.."

"I don't care! I told you before, I really don't care. I've done awesome things my entire life, this'll work out. Many kids around the world don't have parents nor guardians," he said as he wiped Lovino's tears, "I want to be with you. Why won't you let me?"

"I just.. don't want anything bad to happen to either of you! You're always making me worry like this, jerk.."

"Nothing bad will happen. Have a little faith, will ya? Haven't you ever heard of the Christmas miracle? You and I made it happen," Gilbert smiled.

"Feli said it's only if you kiss someone you love-" but just then, Gilbert put a finger to Lovino's mouth.

"Shh. Let me finish," he said, brushing away Lovino's messy hair from his cute face, "Ich liebe dich. And if you don't know what that means, then I'll show you."

This time, Lovino did not resist or have second thoughts. Instead, he welcomed the sweet kiss with open arms as he had regained the love in which he thought he had lost. He realized, some things do last forever. You just have to work hard to keep it that way.

_I love you, too... so don't ever let go of me._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And then Lovino said "My body is ready." and he lost his virginitiez. 8D lulz. I'll fix any bad grammar and what not later. I don't even know why I'm awake right now..**

**Anyways, I hope this wasn't too bad. Sorry if it was, in any way. Oh here's a short summary epilogue that I randomly just thought of!**

**Epilogue!: On Gilbert's 18th birthday he received a letter addressed to him which was written by Old Fritz. The old dude wrote it when he knew he'd end up in the hospital soon, dying; since he'd been sick for many years but it was getting worse. And in this letter contained the inheritance to all his fortune, since he was a rich dude that gave it all up since he was dying and had no wife/heir. SO he decided to give it to the less fortunate, and ended up adopting Gil and Luddy. So then Gilbert uses some of the money to go to college and gets an awesome career/job that I don't know about because it's too awesome! And he and Lovino live happily ever after! Oh and so does everyone else. :|**


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